‘Service Above Self.?
Although he’s not a member, for nearly four decades Jack LeRoy lived and breathed the Rotary Club of Oxford’s motto by diligently serving his community as a member of both its police and fire departments.
‘It’s just unimaginable the number of hours that Jack has put in,? said Rotarian Joe Bullen. ‘He’s certainly a man of integrity and a real asset to our community.?
In recognition of LeRoy’s devotion to this town, the Oxford Rotarians presented him with the coveted G.E. Meads Award during a special luncheon held at the public library last week.
‘I really will cherish this. Thank you very much,? said LeRoy, who graduated from OHS in 1967.
Established in 2000, the G.E. Meads Award is presented annually to a non-Rotarian who exemplifies the club motto by making significant contributions to the community.
The award is named for Dr. G.E. Meads, a local dentist who helped charter the Rotary Club of Oxford in 1937 and served as its first president.
Born, raised and educated here in the Gravel Capital of the World, LeRoy served with the Oxford Police Department from 1971 through September 1994, spending the last 7? years as chief.
He took over as the full-time fire chief in October 1994 after having served as a paid-on-call firefighter since 1983.
LeRoy retired from the fire department in October of last year and now spends his time traveling and volunteering with the Northeast Oakland Historical Society and the Oxford Lions Club.
As a department head, LeRoy always projected himself in a way that let his men know ‘he knew what he was doing and what you needed to do was to listen to him,? according to Bullen, who’s a past village president.
Bullen praised LeRoy for being a jack-of-all-trades.
‘His expertise in so many areas was unbelievable,? he said.
When Oxford first became part of the 9-1-1 emergency phone system, Bullen indicated it was LeRoy who crawled under the dispatch console and hooked everything up.
‘He’s the guy that got in there and really put those things together and made them work,? he said.
Whenever the department got a new police car, it went right over to LeRoy’s garage, so he could install all the extra equipment.
‘He knew how to do it. This is what always just intrigued me,? Bullen said.
Despite all Bullen’s kind words, LeRoy, in his typical modest fashion, did not blow his own horn.
Instead, he praised those he served with over the years.
‘It would not have been possible for me to accomplish everything I did without the staff,? said the former chief. ‘I had two good administrative assistants in my tenure ? Faye Combs in the police department and Margie Payne in the fire department. And my command staff in both the agencies were second to none.?
‘Everything just clicked. We had a good organization in both places. I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people that supported me over the years.?
LeRoy was especially thankful to his wife, Barbara, for ‘having the tolerance to put up with me for all these years.?
Being a G.E. Meads recipient certainly puts LeRoy in some good company.
Past winners include Mildred Schmidt, Diane Offer, Duane Salswedel, Ian Smith, Gary Lepak, Helen Smith and Tim Davidson.