During his more than three decades as a firefighter – along with a few other professions along the way – Joe Hendry had always heard the phrase “you’ll know when it’s time to retire.”
For Hendry, that time came as early as last year, when he began having thoughts of retiring as chief of the Petal Fire Department. He made that decision official at a mid-March meeting of the Petal Board of Aldermen, where he announced he will be hanging up his boots effective May 10.
“I’m running a little behind – I probably should have done it last year,” Hendry said. “I still love what I do, but it’s time to move into another part of life and let a younger man’s body prevail, and let them do things the way they want to do them.
“I’m old-school, out of school, out of date, out of touch and out of step, so they’ll have to do it the way they want to, and hopefully it all works out good for them, which I’m sure it will. It’ll only get better, and there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Hendry graduated from Runnelstown High School, along with five of his siblings. After graduation, he went to work in the construction industry, and in 1980 – when interest rates began to skyrocket throughout the country – he left that profession to go to work at the Hattiesburg Fire Department.
At HFD, Hendry started as a recruit firefighter and went through a basic in-house training course before working his way up through the ranks.
“Hattiesburg had four classes of firefighter at the time – I think it was fourth class, third, second and first – and it took you two years to work up to first class,” Hendry said. “You had to take that test and pass a skills test to get to the next rank, and I went to first-class firefighter for several years and then went to lieutenant.
“Back then, the drivers were lieutenants, so I transitioned into a driver and stayed in that position for years, because when I moved up to station manager, they had done away with the captain’s position, so I was still a lieutenant.”
Hendry stayed on at Hattiesburg Fire Department until 2005, at which point he retired from that organization as a battalion chief after 25 years of service. After leaving the fire department, Hendry spent a couple of years at the City of Hattiesburg’s inspection department, where he conducted building inspections and other operations.
He then applied for a position at Petal Fire Department, but was told that the city needed a building inspector rather than a firefighter.
“They said, ‘well, we need a building inspector; why didn’t you apply for that job?’” Hendry said. “I said, ‘well, it’s like this: firefighters see people at their worst time. They’ve got an emergency, they’ve got injuries, they’ve got a fire, they’ve got a wreck, and so they’re always glad to see us coming.’
“But nobody wants to see the building inspector show up. The building inspector, I enjoyed doing it, because it was just like the fire service in that it was people-oriented. But on the other hand, you had to deal with people, and not all of them were pleasant. And the more you followed the rules, the less you’re going to be liked, so that’s a hard way to get by.”
Hendry continued to apply for the fire chief position at Petal Fire Department several times, and in February 2010, former Mayor Hal Marx contacted Hendry to ask whether he was still interested in the spot. On March 8 of that year, Hendry was hired for that position and has served there ever since.
During that time, Hendry has especially enjoyed helping the residents of the City of Petal, including with initiatives such as installing smoke alarms for senior citizens and educating the public on fire safety measures.
“We meet with the public in a lot of different venues – in schools, in preschools, and we see the seniors,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed being able to help somebody like that, and they appreciate it.
“And the other love is the comradery between the guys at the fire department – it’s truly a brotherhood. You can walk into a fire station anywhere in the world, and when they find out you’re a fireman or a retired fireman, it’s just like you walked into a meeting with your family. You’re on the same page, and it’s truly a world-wide brotherhood.”
In his retirement, Hendry plans to work on the “honey do” list that his wife has put together for him, as well as stay active in the community and partake in hobbies such as fishing.
“Hopefully, work is not that much in my future,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I started work – it’s been 49 years since I got out of high school, and it’s been work ever since.”
Although Hendry doesn’t specifically know who the Petal Board of Aldermen will choose as his replacement, it’s his wish that it will be someone from inside the department.
“I think they’ve talked already, from when I told them what my plans were a few weeks back,” he said. “I think they started looking at their options and what they wanted to do, but I hope they name someone inside.
“There’s plenty of good young guys that are here, and we’ve got a lot of great guys. (This department) is going to be fine in every aspect of the word, and they’re just going to continue to grow and get better.”
Mayor Tony Ducker said Hendry has been an invaluable asset to the department for the entire duration of his time there.
“What a super guy,” Ducker said. “What a great presence he’s been for our city and that department – a record of achievement.
“He was a calming influence over there; when he came in, it was something that we really needed at that time. He’s been able to lower all fire rating, so I think the quality of his work speaks for itself.”
