Antonia Fire Protection District Capt. Mike Matzker took his final ride home in a firetruck Monday, April 3.
The 58-year-old Hillsboro resident was treated to a farewell party Monday at House 2 in Barnhart after he worked his final shift Sunday, April 2.
He had been with the department for more than 40 years.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is just time to go,” Matzker said of his retirement, which officially begins on Oct. 12, after he takes unused vacation. “It has been my life since I was 18. It is hard to give it up, but it is time to let the younger generation take over.”
Deputy Chief Bobby Chrisco said Matzker started as a volunteer at Antonia Fire in 1982 and was hired as a full-time employee in 1996.
Matzker was a firefighter, engineer and captain in the district, Chrisco said.
“He was the union shop steward for several years for the membership,” Chrisco said. “He led the truck committee. He helped design and get everything ready to order new firetrucks. He also was a maintenance officer. His background is as a mechanic, and we put those skills to good use at the fire department.”
Matzker said before he started working full time at Antonia Fire, he was a mechanic at Jim Butler St. Louis Honda.
He said he felt he was called to the fire service industry to help his community.
As part of his job, Matzker frequently visited local schools, especially Antonia Elementary School, to speak to students about fire safety and other topics.
He said he also read to students and served breakfast and lunch to students.
“I enjoyed dealing with the kids,” he said. “You get to talk to the kids and teach them things like stop, drop and roll.”
Matzker said he often worked the Christmas shop and fall and spring festivals at Antonia Elementary, which is part of the Fox C-6 School District.
During the fall festival, Matzker said he would take barbecue pits to the school to be used as heating stations or to cook food for the event.
“Last year, I gave (Antonia Elementary) a set of pits. They will use them more than I do,” he said.
Chrisco said Antonia firefighters like Matzker, who teach students about fire safety, perform an important duty.
“That is a massive part of what we do,” he said. “Getting to children while they are young to teach them the importance of recognizing an emergency and what to do in those cases is important. Often a child is calling 911 or helping with CPR, and I think it comes from getting into the schools and teaching kids.”
Chrisco said Matzker will be missed, adding that he set the district up for success before leaving.
“He was one of the guys who would help everyone out when they first joined the department,” Chrisco said. “He would take people under his wing and teach them about the firehouse and the history of the district. It will be different without having him here, but he helped set us up that it is easier to manage with him and others who started this place leaving.”
Matzker said he will focus on his tractor-trailer business after leaving Antonia Fire. He said he started driving a truck about five years ago and mainly hauls hazardous waste material.
“I enjoy driving,” said Matzker, who has two grown sons with his wife, Lisa, a business teacher at Seckman High. “This allows me more freedom to work on my own schedule.”
He said he wanted his last day with Antonia Fire to be Oct. 12 because of two events that occurred the same day.
“That was the day we buried my mom, and the day my wife and I got married,” Matzker said. “There is one bad and one good on that day, so I will add another good one to it to make it better.”