Mentor Fire Lieutenant Retires After 28 Years of Service

Lieutenant Scott Parcell plans on doing few, if any, activities for the foreseeable future, but he knows he has earned that right.

Parcell retired from the Mentor Fire Department in late May after 28 years of service. He worked as an EMT in Ashtabula County for eight years before he landed a job in Mentor.

"Obviously, I just got enjoyment out of helping others and doing good things for good people," he said. "I'll miss the excitement of the job, but sometimes you know when it's time to go.

"The body starts taking its toll on you. It's a young man's job."

When Parcell decided he wanted to do more than EMS, he took tests for the Mentor and Willoughby fire departments. Since 1985, he has helped rescued citizens from fires and participated in rope and dive missions.

"He was just rock-solid — such a good, consistent fire lieutenant," Mentor Fire Chief Richard Harvey said. "He showed up every day and was ready and kept up like that during his whole career."

Harvey said Parcell had too much pride to mail it in near the end of his career.

"He's one of the guys you'd just like a whole bunch of," Harvey said. "You could just depend on him always."

Now, Parcell will lend that dependability to his mother, mother-in-law and grandchildren, whom he will help take care of.

Harvey promoted Tony Higginbotham and Bill Malovrh to lieutenant, and Ron Zak to battalion chief just a few days after Parcell's retirement. Parcell believes it's well worth it for more young men to follow those footsteps.

"It was everything I anticipated and more," he said of his career. "I got into everything with the fire department.

"It was a very good career and I recommend it to anybody who wants an exciting career. No days are ever the same."