GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Our FOX 17 Pay it Forward Spotlight Award winner this month blurs the lines between two categories as both a veteran and Grand Rapids Police volunteer.
After spending time with Tom "Fireball" Roberts, it's clear why people from his past and present think he's a worthy nominee.
Everyone really does call him Fireball and it's easy to see why.
Fireball started flying at 14.
He said, "I used to sell firecrackers to make money to go out and run a plane."
The now 77-year-old spent six years in the Air Force Reserves, while working for a railroad company.
His calling though, even back to 1967, was always the police department.
"They'd say, 'You're making three times the money on the rail. Why do you want to be a Grand Rapids officer?' Because I just want to be," he reminisced.
While still working for the railroad, he answered that call through volunteering. Fireball was deputized back then as a special deputy with the Kent County Sheriff's Office by then Sheriff Ron Parsons.
To this day, he still volunteers at the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD).
"He is definitely a fireball," joked GRPD Volunteer Coordinator & Officer Kaitlin Bernardo. "He told me today that he was going to get his hair cut, and he's bald, so he's just always got something to say to keep me laughing."
Fireball spends most days marking abandoned vehicles and cleaning up signs. More importantly though, he spreads his good energy.
"It's fun and I love talking to people," Fireball shared. "When we're going to sticker a car or something, I hope they come out of the house so I can talk to them."
And he rarely writes a ticket.
For his decades of dedication to his community, Fireball was nominated and selected as the Pay it Forward Spotlight Award winner for December.
"He has a lot of people who love him and appreciate him in his life," Officer Bernardo said. "So that was not surprising in the least to know that one or multiple people nominated him for that."
Ask Fireball though, and he's not alone in people worthy of recognition.
He said, "We got people here in our volunteer group that probably deserve this more than I do that work more hours, and they're more gung-ho."
Fireball has high spirits despite now going through multiple rounds of chemo for prostate cancer.
Next month's Spotlight Award will focus on a healthcare professional.
If you know a first responder, health care professional or veteran who is deserving of a spotlight, nominate them here.
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