[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 20185]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JOE SIMON, JR.

 Ms. HEITKAMP. Mr. President, today I would like to honor a 
North Dakotan who is among the longest serving fire department 
volunteers in my State, keeping his community safe from fires and other 
threats for more than 65 years. That is a rare distinction in public 
service. The name Joe Simon, Jr., of Thompson, ND, has been on the 
volunteer firefighters' roster since his high school days when his 
father was fire chief.
  Joe served for 36 years as the chief of the Thompson Fire Department. 
During that time, it was Joe's responsibility to keep the department 
fully staffed, manage training and medical duties, and work on grants 
to help keep the department running. Though Joe has retired as chief, 
he is still actively involved with department, helping with monthly 
checks of equipment and going on fire calls.
  According to his friend, George Hoselton, it was under Joe's 
leadership that the Thompson Fire Department got its first set of the 
Jaws of Life rescue system--a major purchase for a volunteer 
department. After a college student died in an accident along the 
highway near Thompson because no Jaws of Life were available, Joe led 
door-to-door fundraising efforts to buy the lifesaving equipment. The 
community, today comprised of just a thousand North Dakotans, 
contributed enough money that the Thompson Fire Department was able to 
purchase the Jaws of Life and a rescue vehicle needed to carry the Jaws 
of Life and other equipment, says George. And that is what Joe is best 
at: working hard, bringing folks together, and making his community 
safer.
  Joe's volunteerism at the Thompson Fire Department over more than 60 
years has made the department a model for other communities around the 
State and country. Thompson Fire Department has taught classes to share 
its practices with other fire departments in the region and has long 
led the way in improving its volunteers' skills and safety. Under Joe's 
leadership, the department secured one of the earliest automatic 
defibrillators in the State of North Dakota. Joe also helped get 
medical first response units up and running at other volunteer 
departments in the region and was instrumental in getting 911 and 
emergency first responder radio systems set up in Grand Forks County. 
Service is a way of life in Joe's family. His wife, Sue, has been an 
EMT with the Thompson Fire Department for 27 years, which puts her in 
second place in seniority.
  After studying at the University of North Dakota, Joe has spent his 
life in Thompson helping to grow and support the community in many 
ways. For 36 years, he worked as the head of the Agricultural 
Stabilization and Conservation Service in Grand Forks. Outside of his 
firefighting duties, Joe has been actively involved in American Legion 
baseball, Thompson High School football, and almost any other sporting 
event in town. Every Memorial Day, Joe puts out flags in nearby 
cemeteries, and reads a list of the honored dead--all of the veterans 
buried at four cemeteries around Thompson.
  Friend and fellow firefighter George says that Joe ``gets the biggest 
smile on his face when he helps someone. That makes his day.''
  Volunteers make up 96 percent of North Dakota's firefighters. They 
have other jobs but continue to give back, building stronger and safer 
communities and supporting the very fabric of our State. North Dakotans 
know that each of us has to step in to help our family and neighbors 
during tough times, and our first responders know that better than 
most. It is North Dakotans like Joe who epitomize why our State is such 
a unique and wonderful place filled with dedicated individuals who put 
others before themselves.
  Thank you, Joe, for your tremendous service to your community and for 
your tireless efforts to keep communities throughout North Dakota 
safe.
  

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