SAUGATUCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Chris Gargano, the first female first responder for Saugatuck Township, worked her last shift Sunday and retired after serving the community for 36 years.
Gargano was not only the first female first responder for the township, but also the first female EMT.
She and her husband, Mark Gargano, both served the department and ran calls together.
"I've been a member of the Saugatuck Township Fire Department for 36 years. I took the first responder class in 1986 and was pretty much the first female joining the department. And a year later, my husband became a fireman and joined with me, so we've been a team for the past 36 years in this community," Gargano told FOX 17 Sunday.
"It's like, I can't believe me and her...We're still both together after all the time we've been running calls. I wonder how many people in the state of Michigan have husband and wife doing the same thing for 35 years, 36 years," Chris' husband, Mark Gargano, added.
To celebrate Gargano’s last day with the Saugatuck Township Fire District, her family, friends and coworkers surprised her with a party Sunday evening.
"When she started doing this, she was also a fulltime pediatric nurse and then she had, you know, both of us, so on top of working fulltime as a pediatric nurse, she was doing the EMT stuff with the fire department, on call and part-time and volunteer, while raising us. And, you know, taking care of the whole family, so it just, it shows us how strong and caring of a person my mom is and [she's] really an inspiration, someone to look up to," Leslie Gargano, one of Chris' daughters, explained.
During her decades-long tenure with the department, Gargano organized the fire district’s first open house, inviting community members into the department for food, games and fire safety education.
She has also participated in several parades, school first aid classes and social events pertaining to the department.
Gargano told FOX 17 Sunday that she, of course, isn't saying goodbye to the department forever.
She said the other members of the department are like family to her and, especially with her husband Mark staying on, she plans to drop in to the department every so often to see how everyone is doing.
