Trying something new results in a 33 year career of passion

Hired on with one other, Lt. Anne McKendry, was one of Longmont Fire Department’s first female firefighters and now she is set to retire at the end of the month.

McKendry has spent the last 33 years working for the Longmont Fire Department but that is not where she envisioned her career when she began.

McKendry grew up in nearby Arvada. She was always athletic and used to being the only girl, as she has three brothers. Her parents, Bob and Julie McKendry, inspired her to stay active by participating in sports. Her father, who was a teacher, coach and superintendent, “is always doing something,” McKendry said, which usually involved a sport of some kind. 

In high school, McKendry’s father encouraged her to join the golf team. At the time, she was the only girl on the team, she said. It was a sport she was good at and her father had hopes she would one day make it her profession.

“I liked it and I got pretty good at it but it just wasn’t my passion,” she said.

Knowing she wanted to have a career that kept her active, McKendry decided to become a physical education teacher. After finishing student teaching, she felt that the profession was not for her. 

“I didn’t find it very satisfying,” she said. “Just doing student teaching, I didn’t have enough time to teach. I wanted to be able to teach and help people … It wasn’t what I had envisioned it being.” 

Knowing that the career was not making her happy she decided to make a switch. A friend of hers was a volunteer firefighter at the time and made it seem interesting, McKendry said. 

However, before she could sign up as a volunteer, McKendry found a post in a local newspaper that advertised that the Longmont Fire Department was hiring and that women were “especially encouraged to apply,” she said. 

“When you try different things, so many doors can open. I believe in staying curious, asking people things and trying new things, there is so much out there. The world is wide open and I never had intended going in that direction … Life is kinda funny that way,” McKendry said. 

McKendry signed up and was the first woman to pass the physical agility test, by mere seconds, she said. The allotted time for the test is 10 minutes and no allowances are made based on gender, she said.

“It was amazing. It was like I was in a dream or something. I felt like I had won the lotto when I got the call to say they (Longmont) were going to hire me,” she said.

After finishing the academy, she and Virginia Harris, entered the Longmont firefighting team the same year. Harris entered with volunteer experience and as a paramedic.

“I had heard about her. I was a little intimidated to be coming on with someone with that much experience and knowledge,” McKendry said. “I knew a lot of people were going to be watching because Ginger (Harris) and myself were some of the first females in Longmont.”

Being one of the firsts was not easy but McKendry worked hard to make sure she did her best and learned everything she could. 

“I felt that there was pressure but I knew that if I tried as hard as I could and put the effort in, was humble, just did everything I could to get better and work on learning all the things of firefighting and the medical part, that I could show them that I could do the job,” McKendry said.

“She had to work very hard and that is always something you always have to do to prove yourself is to show everybody else that ‘hey I belong here.’ I think she always did a good job of doing that,” Lt. Anthony Heronema said. 

Heronema, like Rob Spendlow, interim Longmont Public Safety chief, began their careers in fire in the same class as McKendry. Heromema plans to retire at the end of May. 

Even though the other firefighters were men, McKendry never felt out of place. She soon came to feel as though the entire team was “just a bunch of brothers,” she said. “I think if you have to have mutual respect for each other and show that you’re working on something and you’re humble and you keep working and you show them that you are not going to give up, I think that they are willing to work with you.”

“At first glance, she isn’t someone you would think would be a firefighter,” Spendlow said. “Especially in a male dominated profession at the time. But I do remember Anne being very healthy and fit, and very strong, probably pound for pound one of the strongest folks I knew … She was determined she was going to be successful … (with) persistence, desire and a never-ending will to be successful.”

“I hope in some way I helped other women who didn’t think they could do this job,” McKendry said. 

At the time, Longmont Fire was beginning to transition to incorporate more paramedics on each team. This drew McKendry in and in 1994 she expanded her education by going to paramedic school because “most of the job is medical and helping people that way,” she said.

“The medical really interests me, I like the science background and learning about the anatomy and it fit with my background of a physical education degree, so it just added to that,” she said. 

Through the years, McKendry rose, as have many of the women in the Longmont Fire Department, to a leadership role. She will retire at the end of this week as a lieutenant but so much more than that. 

Using her vast knowledge of health and fitness, McKendry played an integral part, along with Heronema,  in revising the yearly health and fitness exam required for all active firefighters on Longmont’s force. The team worked with an exercise physiologist from the University of Colorado and other fire chiefs to create a fitness test for modern firefighters. 

The yearly test examines the strengths and cardiovascular stamina of firefighters to keep them healthy for the demanding job. When firefighters need to improve in an area the team makes suggestions and creates a program to regain strength, she said.

“We (Longmont Public Safety) are recognized for some of our health and wellness expectations and levels of performance in our fire services division … I do believe that Anne might have been on the front end of pulling that to the forefront and creating that as an expectation.” 

Now that her years of service are over, McKendry, beyond spending time with her parents and golfing in a local league, has yet to decide what to do next, however, being active remains imperative.

“I want to keep learning and keep pushing myself. It is just going to be a different journey, but I will find something,” she said. 

“My wish for Anne is that she gets to live at least another 40 years, in good health, both physical and mental, and do only the things that make her heart happy because she has given a lot of her life to others and she’s earned that and she deserves that,” Spendlow said.  

“Just enjoy it … have fun and enjoy yourself. We are all at that age and we deserve it, to have that nice long, fun retirement. Go out there and enjoy yourself and know you had a great career and you left a good impression on the people you worked with,” Heronema said.   

“It is such a career that is so rewarding because of how many times you get to see that you have made a difference in somebody’s life,” McKendry said. “I can’t even describe how rewarding it has been for me.”