MENOMONIE PAID ON-CALL FIREFIGHTER JACK GANZEMILLER SCHOLARSHIP
The Menomonie Paid On-Call Firefighter Jack Ganzemiller Scholarship was established to honor Jack Ganzemiller’s commitment to serving the greater Menomonie and Dunn County area as a paid on-call firefighter, as well as the founder of the Dunn County First Responders. The scholarship recipient needs to demonstrate leadership, dedication, courage, and mentorship during his/her first year in CVTC’s FireMedic program.
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, IN, during his teenage years, he joined the local fire department as a senior in high school. 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 four 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 Columbus, IN. Then, in Speedway, IN, he worked for the Allision 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, WI, where he was employed by 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 services 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 a program director of Business Administration at UW-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 Sheriff’s Department where he raised funds, purchased equipment, and recruited and trained volunteers.
Jack’s numerous awards relating to his vocation and volunteer work include:
- Distinguished Teacher at UW-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 Firefighter Association Jack Ganzemiller Distinguished Service Award for Courage, Leadership, Dedication, and Mentor-Inaugural Recipient (2011)
In 2011, the Paid On-Call Firefighters of Menomonie Firefighters’ Association established the Jack Ganzemiller Distinguished Service Award to recognize current and retired Menomonie Fire Department firefighters who have embodied Jack’s qualities of courage, leadership, dedication, and mentoring.
Like the Menomonie Firefighters’ Association Paid On-Call Jack Ganzemiller Scholarship established at CVTC, most of Jack’s awards recognized his time and talent that he imparted to others and were initiated or voted on by his peers. This is very important and especially meaningful for Jack.
Jack, his 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 servicing their communities throughout their lifetime. Although being a volunteer firemedic wasn’t a full-time vocation for Jack, it was a very big part of his heart. As Jack faces the challenges of aging, many of his vivid memories are of his emergency activities, the people he helped, and the friends he made along the way. That is the gift of service to others.