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Moorhead
Fire
Dept
111
12th St N
Moorhead
MN 56560
(218)
299-5432
| |
 Marty
Soeth leaves honorable legacy
David Nordick Barnesville, Minn. Fire Department-Retired Dent,
Minn. The Forum
Published June 27, 2005
I asked Marty Soeth several years ago when he was going to retire. He was well
past the age at which he could retire and receive a maximum pension. He served
the city of Moorhead Fire Department all of his adult life. He said that he
would retire when he no longer loved his job.
Well, he retired in January 2004, but I know he still enjoyed his work. He
just felt it was time to let someone else take the reins of a department that he
helped build into one of the finest and most professional in the state, if not
the country.
I got to know Soeth through his association with the Minnesota Technical
College System. He would come to smaller departments, both fire and emergency
response units, throughout the area, in Minnesota and North Dakota to teach fire
fighting and lifesaving skills. He changed many of those departments from being
thought of as good old boys clubs into first-rate fire and emergency response
units, although he did torture us with an endless supply of slides and videos.
There will be firefighters and EMTs for years to come who will answer calls
for assistance and know how to use the equipment and tools available to them and
deal with those emergencies, then return safely to their homes and families.
This is the legacy that Marty Soeth has given to so many of us.
There is a saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Soeth didn’t
care about toys unless they came equipped with a light bar and siren. I say he
who dies with the most friends wins. Marty, you are most definitely a winner.
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