LAUDERDALE LAKES, FLA. (WSVN) - Two Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue firefighters, who are married, are retiring together after having served more than three decades each.
BSFR Captain Colleen McMahon rode next to her husband BSFR Lt. Jeffrey McMahon as they both finished their final shifts as EMT firefighters, Thursday.
“It’s been a great ride, though. It’s a great accomplishment,” said Jeffrey. “You have great pride knowing that you go out there and you help people every day, save lives every day.”
Jeffrey has worked 33 years at BSFR and has been waiting to retire with his wife, who just completed 30 years. Colleen worked in the training division.
“When you first start that first day, and you’re wide-eyed and bushy tailed, you think, ‘Thirty years? That’s forever away,'” said Colleen, “and then all of a sudden, we’re up on 30 years, and I look back and I say, ‘Well, it’s a good thing I started when I was 10.'”
Together with her husband and their two kids, the duo completed their last call as firefighters.
“I’ve never seen them work together,” said Danielle McMahon, the couple’s daughter, “so it’s really cool to see them work together.”
“I just want to follow in their footsteps, and I look forward to doing my time,” added Tyler McMahon, the couple’s son.
Tyler will be starting EMT school in the fall, while Danielle has already graduated — proving that helping others definitely runs in this family.
The couple actually met on the job, which makes their last goodbye all the more significant.
“Literally everything comes full circle,” said BSFR Chief Kenneth Kronheim. “It’s always an honor for command staff to be able to send a retiree home happy, healthy and, most importantly, safe to their families.”
When asked how he felt about ending his service together with his wife, Jeffrey said, “We don’t work together, but she has helped me a long way.”
Now, the terms “24 on” and “48 off” are a thing of the past.
“We actually have a permanent open calendar because there’s no more schedule,” said Jeffrey.
The retirees said they don’t have any immediate plans of what they will do next.
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