By Blair Dedrick Ortmann
The Beaumont Enterprise
BEAUMONT, Texas — Michelle Chesser tearfully accepted her husband’s collar brass Monday morning during the Beaumont Fire Department’s promotion and hiring ceremony.
Her husband, David Chesser, was unable to attend his promotion ceremony as he was back in the hospital with complications from surgery earlier this month.
“He wanted so desperately to be here,” Michelle Chesser said after the ceremony. “When he went into the hospital Monday, he told the doctor, ‘Do what you have to do, but I’m out of here Monday.’”
Unfortunately, his plan to receive his district chief pins himself didn’t work.
Chesser, who has a rare cancer called Mesothelioma, had a 14-hour surgery in early July that removed his appendix, spleen and part of his pancreas, Michelle Chesser said. He also went through a course of chemotherapy.
He flew home last Tuesday and immediately went into the hospital to receive blood, she said. Then, Saturday, he went back into the hospital because of a complication.
“It’s been a roller coaster in a short period of time,” Michelle Chesser said. “We hope it’s just a slight bump in the road.”
Chesser has been with the department for 35 years and was promoted to captain in 1992.
Richard Land II received his pin as a new hire to the department at the ceremony as well.
Land, who was previously with the Orange Fire Department and has 17 total years of experience in emergency services, said his service as a firefighter is a way to share his God-given talents.
“I think God’s given a lot of talent to a lot of different people and I think God’s given talent to firefighters that they have to give back to their community,” he said after the ceremony.
The other firefighters who were promoted were:
Deputy Chief Christian Singler, 16 years of service,
District Chief Brian Hebert, 17 years of service,
Captain Craig Willett, 12 years of service,
Captail Mike Drury, 19 years of service,
Captain Galen Key, 13 years of service,
Driver James Blanchard, nine years of service,
Driver William Cheshire, seven years of service,
Driver Jeffery Nesom, eight years of service,
and Driver Christopher Winn, two years of service.
The other new hires were:
Christopher Harvey,
Gregory Hollaway
and William Roane.
Copyright 2009 The Beaumont Enterprise