The Daily Journal has an article about three firefighters being honored by the state:
Longtime firefighters Lyle Coffman and George Grosso, of Limestone Township, and Jim LaMotte, of Momence, have received the outstanding community service awards from the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts.
A multigeneration firefighter, Coffman has served as a firefighter and fire district official for a total of 49 years in three different departments. He was appointed trustee of the Limestone Township Fire Protection District in 1986 and has been board president for more than a decade.
He has served in the Limestone department since 1972, has been a state director of the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Trustees and is a former president, and has served as president of the Kankakee County Fire Trustees Association.
He was one of the first paramedics in the Kankakee area and was instrumental in making the Limestone Township department one of the first advance life support providers in the region.
Grosso has been a firefighter and district official since 1958 and has seen the department grow from a small volunteer operation to an organization with full-time, part-time and paid-on-call firefighter/paramedics. He was appointed to the board of trustees in 1991 and is currently the treasurer of the district.
LaMotte started with the Momence Fire Protection District as an 18-year-old volunteer in 1958 and has served as firefighter, chief, board member and president. He was chief for 21 years, after a year as acting chief.
He served as an officer of the Illinois Firefighter Memorial Foundation, a member of the Kankakee County Board, chairman of the Kankakee County Emergency Telephone System Board, chairman of the board of Good Shepherd Manor in Momence, and a board member of Kankakee County Drug Court.
thanks Chris
