LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Smokey Anderson's 45 years of public service ended Friday with his retirement as the director of the Tippecanoe County Emergency Management Agency, but he's not quite gone.
He's still going to volunteer with the local emergency management agency, even on the dive team. But he's 69, and he's giving up the role of being a diver.
“That is a younger man’s occupation,” he joked about diving.
Besides, he doesn’t want to be the old guy who they have to force to turn over his dive gear, Anderson joked.
Anderson spent 34 years in the sheriff's office, holding every rank from intern to sheriff.
Jeff Houston replaces Anderson as the director, and his first day is Monday.
“Smokey’s done a wonderful job,” Houston said.
Houston started in the emergency medical service, starting at Home Hospital in the mid-1990s. During his EMS days, Houston met lots of people in the emergency services, including Anderson, and those relationships have been valuable.
Most recently, Houston worked as the emergency preparedness coordinator for the Tippecanoe Health Department. He started that job in 2019, and then COVID hit in 2020.
The three years of COVID were a whirlwind of activities setting up testing sites and vaccination locations, he said.
When the pandemic subsided, he joked he pulled his original job description to see what he was supposed to be doing.
“We worked hand in hand with TEMA during COVID,” Houston said. “I have a good background in what EMA does. I’ve been a part of that. I know how things work.”
Along the way, Houston built more relationships with agencies and people.
“For this type of business, you got to have equipment and manpower,” Houston said of the need to build those working relationships.
Houston settles into the TEMA headquarters on Monday, and Anderson formally started his retirement on June 28.
Part of that retirement will be spent in training to continue to be a TEMA volunteer, but that's just a couple of hours here or there, Anderson said.
“We’ll travel some and be around,” Anderson said.
Travel includes a fall trip to New England and possibly a few weeks in a warmer climate during Indiana's winters, he said.
Anderson credited TEMA's success to its volunteers and the staff at the sheriff's office when he was in law enforcement.
“They do a great job for no pay," Anderson said of the TEMA volunteers. "It’s kind of a thankless job. We have some very dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly.”
Looking back on more than four decades of public service, Anderson said, “It’s been a great experience. If I had to do it all over, I don’t know what I’d change. It’s worked out well for me.”
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
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