Aurora fire chief Oelker to retire in April

After 30 years with the Aurora Fire Department, Chief Tim Oelker will retire on April 3.

Oelker, 57, started his career in 1979, after walking into the old Aurora Central Fire Station on Broadway. He'd returned from a serving as a Navy SEAL, during which he was part of the recovery team for the Apollo 17 space capsule in 1972.

He'd tried a number of jobs, including stints at Amtrak and Oberweis Dairy, but was looking for a career.

He found one. Oelker was promoted to lieutenant in 1985 and worked his way up through the ranks, becoming chief in 2005. Firefighting, it turned out, was exactly the right fit for him. And he said it was the satisfaction of knowing you'd done some good, had helped others in trouble, that kept him fulfilled through his long career.

Oelker has seen a lot of changes in his time with the AFD. For one thing, the fire station he walked into in 1979 is now the Aurora Regional Fire Museum -- the department moved into a new central station in 1981. Oelker is the last serving firefighter who worked in the old station.

When he began his career, there were 110 full-time firefighters. Now there are 207.

Oelker said that while firefighting technology has changed tremendously in 30 years, human nature hasn't, and he's tried to foster an environment of respect and responsibility at the Fire Department.

"When someone gets promoted, I explain what we expect of them, and I always say my fear is they don't fully understand the weight of the responsibility they're accepting with the additional rank," Oelker said. "You're no longer just responsible for yourself, but for the people who work under you."

As chief, he said, that responsibility never went away. He's looking forward to setting it down and taking it easy, at least for a while. Oelker plans to spend his retirement concentrating on his hobbies, including motorcycle restoration, canoeing, woodcarving and gardening.

"I go to a lot of retirement parties, and people always look 10 years younger than they did before they left the job," he laughed. "I've never heard one of them say, 'I wish I had stayed.'"

But Oelker will miss his time with the AFD, particularly the camaraderie he has built with his fellow firefighters. It's a bond you just don't get in most other jobs, he said, one that comes from mutual respect born in fire.

He remembers the major fires -- the Stove Works building on Rathbone Avenue in 1983, for instance -- and smaller, unsung moments, like helping children and heart attack victims get to hospitals.

"I try to tell the firefighters now that the potential for the good they do may seem insignificant to them, but it may seem like the angels come down from heaven to the person on the other end of the phone," Oelker said.

No replacement has been chosen, but Oelker is confident his successor will come from within the department.

There is no doubt, however, that Oelker will be missed.

"In his own quiet way, Tim Oelker has been a powerful force in the Aurora Fire Department," said Mayor Tom Weisner. "Morale, cooperation and positive attitudes have never been better. Tim's will be tough shoes, or boots, to fill."

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