Friday, October 24, 2008
A lifetime of service
Sidney Robertson, 90, helped start Roanoke's volunteer rescue squad.
KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times
Sidney Robertson is credited with starting one of the first volunteer rescue squads in Roanoke. For 70 years, he volunteered with Roanoke Emergency Medical Services, logging about five hours a day almost every day since he retired in 1989.
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Sidney Robertson, 90, has seen many things while working with Roanoke's volunteer rescue squad.
During his 70 years of service, he said he's received calls about drunk people wanting to fight, people with major injuries, lots of births and several deaths.
Robertson helped start one of the forerunners of Roanoke Emergency Medical Services, an all-volunteer rescue squad that collaborates with the Roanoke Fire-EMS Department to provide emergency medical care.
To honor his service, Mayor David Bowers proclaimed Sept. 8 as Sidney F. Robertson Day and held a ceremony to celebrate his life and volunteer work.
Several current and former city officials attended the event, including former city council member Bev Fitzpatrick, who presented Robertson with a Distinguished Service Medallion, and Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback, who gave him a letter of commendation from state Sen. John Edwards.
"It takes a special person to do what he does," his wife, Rita Robertson, said while sitting next to him in their Roanoke living room. "He has spent his whole life with the lifesaving crew, and that's all you hear around here."
Growing up, Sidney Robertson always wanted to be a doctor and, as a young child, he used to keep bandages in his pocket just in case he came across a dog or a person who needed help, he said.
His plans never came to fruition because his family didn't have money to send him to college, and he had to care for his father after he had a heart attack. Still, he helped fulfill his desire to help others through medical rescue work.
When he was 18, Robertson started working at Norfolk and Western Railway, where he eventually became assistant to the president.
Shortly afterward, in 1938, he helped start the Williamson Road Life Saving Crew. He helped raise money, recruited volunteers willing to respond to early morning emergency calls and held every position from sergeant to president.
Later, he helped merge the Williamson Road crew with the Roanoke Life Saving Crew. The merger was completed in 1989 and resulted in Roanoke Emergency Medical Services, which has 30 members.
During the ceremony last month, Robertson was presented with a plaque from REMS that reads: "In addition to serving as our President and Board Chairman, Sidney is our handyman, troubleshooter, peacekeeper and liaison member. Since his retirement from the railroad, he has been at the crew hall every day assisting in administration, budgeting, fund raising, and maintenance of vehicles and equipment. For all this and more we wish to honor and thank Sidney for making our organization what it is today."
Since he retired in 1989, Robertson has spent almost every day with REMS, usually putting in five hours a day.
In September 2007, he learned he had a stage 3 malignant brain tumor. But his wife still drove him to REMS every day, even as he underwent chemotherapy for six weeks and radiation for seven weeks.
It was only about a month ago, when he was hospitalized for five days with heart problems, that he cut back on his volunteer work.
Talking about his wife, Robertson said, "She helped me stagger up there every morning."
