MENOMONIE PAID ON-CALL FIREFIGHTER JACK GANZEMILLER SCHOLARSHIP

Jack Ganzemiller couldn’t help but serve wherever he lived. As a young boy, he spent many hours at the firehouse in Green Hills, OH where his father was the Volunteer Fire Chief. When his family moved to Speedway, Indiana during his teenage years, he joined the local fire department as a senior in high school. He was also a drum major for his high school band and played several musical instruments, playing in dance bands throughout his high school and college years! While earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute in Flint, MI, Jack was able to continue his service with the department as well as work as a fire and rescue official at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Jack’s college years were interrupted by 4 years of another kind of service, the U.S. Air Force, where he was a crew chief, flight chief and a technical instructor in the Mobile Training Wing. This instructor role awoke in Jack a desire to teach, which he pursued later in life.

In 1958 Jack married his wife Judy in Speedway, Indiana where he worked for the Allison Division of General Motors and continued as a volunteer firefighter and volunteer Director of Civil Defense. In 1962, the desire to teach prompted Jack to move his family to Purdue University where he received his master’s degree in industrial training, management and psychology. Not long after, he and his family moved to Menomonie, Wisconsin where he was employed at Stout State College in 1963. He became a Paid-On-Call Volunteer Firefighter with the Menomonie Fire Department in 1966 and served his community in this capacity for the next 30 years.

As with many emergency responders, Jack’s volunteer service affected his entire family. Jack and Judy often joked that Jack had a “mistress” most of their married life…the fire service. When “she” called off he went – no matter where they were or what they were doing. Since most of this was before cell phones, his family spent many hours over the years waiting for Jack at fire scenes.

After relinquishing his Menomonie Fire Department duties in 1996 and retiring as Program Director of Business Administration at U.W. Stout in 1989, Jack took on a new challenge; the founding of the Dunn County Medical First Responders, a “neighbor helping neighbor” program that provided volunteers with the equipment and training to provide basic medical help until an ambulance could arrive in the rural areas of Dunn County. To support this effort, Jack volunteered full-time at the Dunn County Sheriffs’ Department where he raised funds, purchased equipment and recruited and trained volunteers. The program continues to this day.

Jack’s numerous awards relating to his vocation and volunteer work include:

• Distinguished Teacher at U.W. Stout (1966)
• Governor of Wisconsin Certificate of Commendation (1995)
• 30 years Paid-On-Call with the Menomonie Fire Department (1966-1996)
• Midwest Living Hometown Pride Award for Heart Defibrillator Program (1998)
• Menomonie Chamber of Commerce Good Neighbor Honoree (1999)
• Menomonie Chamber of Commerce Good Neighbor Award (2003)
• American Red Cross Chippewa Valley Fire/Rescue Hero (2004)
• 10 Years Director Dunn County Medical First Responders Recognition by the Dunn County Board of Supervisors (2005)
• Menomonie Firefighters Association Jack Ganzemiller Distinguished Service Award for Courage, Leadership, Dedication, and Mentor-Inaugural Recipient (2011)
In 2011, the Paid-On-Call Firefighters of the Menomonie Firefighters Association established the Jack Ganzemiller Distinguished Service Award to recognize current or retired Menomonie Fire Department Firefighters who have embodied Jacks qualities of courage, leadership, dedication, and mentor.
Like the Menomonie Firefighters Association/Paid-On-Call Jack Ganzemiller scholarship established at CVTC in 2014, most of Jack’s awards recognized his time and the talent he imparted to others and were initiated or voted on by his peers. This was very important and especially meaningful for Jack. Since 2011, Jack Ganzemiller scholarship funds have been distributed to Fire Medic students who have provided both volunteer and career emergency services to the Menomonie area, the greater Chippewa Valley, and beyond.
Jack’s family and the Paid-On-Call Firefighters of the Menomonie Fire Department hope the recipients of these scholarships receive a sense of fulfillment and joy in serving their communities throughout their lifetimes. Although volunteer Fire/ Medic wasn’t a full-time vocation for Jack, fire and emergency medical services were a big part of his heart.
Jack passed away in 2017 at the age of 87. In his later years, many of Jack’s most vivid memories were of his emergency activities, the people he helped and the friends he made along the way. That is the gift of service to others.