My Dad, OUR Hero

This past weekend, we celebrated my dad’s 30 years of service to and retirement from the Mukwonago Fire Department. As both a volunteer fire fighter and EMT, he has spent several decades in service of others. During what surely was one of their most trying times, it was my dad who was with people he’d never met and likely wouldn’t see again. To do that on top investing in full-time work, his family, and his other interests is simply remarkable. And that’s my dad: a driven, generous, passionate man.

The Mukwonago Fire Department was a part of my youth. The men and women he served with became my dad’s second family, and thus they were there for many of my milestones. My weekends were were filled with various events hosted by MFD, including community events and that one family picnics that ended with Dad getting stitches. Sometimes my weekends - and weeknights - were also filled with quick goodbyes as another call pulled Dad away from our family plans. The sound of his pager and the look on my dad’s face as he was made aware of just how desperately he was needed will never fade from my memory. Now, though, they’re framed differently. Many of the people who spoke at Deputy Chief Unti’s retirement party addressed the sacrifices made by members of the MFD. Much like my own profession, the public believes they know far more - and sometimes better - than those entrusted to serve that very community. The truth is, even with a sideline view of all he gave, I’ll never fully know the depth of his sacrifices, but I am certain that there are few as truly passionate and selfless as my father. There are hundreds - literally hundreds - of people whose lives would be drastically different if not for the choice my dad made after a drop-in open house seeking volunteer firefights more than 30 years ago.

During those speeches, many of us were holding back tears (and not entirely successfully). I also happened to be holding my son, a little boy who loves machines and his nonno, and who, like myself and his big sister, have a real life hero. Both of my babies learned that Nonno’s job might interrupt our plans, but that’s okay because, as they came to say, “Nonno had a call. He went to help somebody.” For them, firefighters will be more than the trucks and fun turnout gear. They will understand living in the service of others; they will know selflessness. Because David Unti is OUR hero.