Brian Ksiazak was in middle school when his father, a Naperville firefighter, was honored for saving a patient’s life.

He remembers the ceremony, the dinner, and the familiar faces of his father’s department. But it was a stranger’s face that stayed with him.

“This person went up and explained what happened,” Ksiazak said. “This is how long I was down for, this is when they first got me back… and it dawned on me. The person I’ve been sitting here with, ate dinner with — was the save.”

Now living in Grand Ridge, Ksiazak said that moment helped shape his commitment to community.

Raised in a service family in Joliet—the son of a teacher and a fireman—he knew early on he wanted to serve.

He enlisted in the Army during his senior year of high school, following the footsteps of both grandfathers, who served in the Army, and an uncle who served in the Navy.

“I just always wanted to enlist,” he said.

After high school, Ksiazak attended basic training in South Carolina. While some cadets struggled, he found it “kind of easy.”

“They broke everything down to the simplest level and taught you how to do it,” he said. “As long as you followed directions, you could adapt and learn.”

Following basic training, he went to Texas to become a veterinary food inspector specialist.

“Truthfully, I got lied to about there being medics in the reserves,” he said. “It was a medical job and I like food.”

As a food inspector, Ksiazak oversaw dining facilities and water safety at all Army bases, Navy bases and ships, and Marine bases.

During his 10 years in the Army, he served two deployments: Kuwait from 2018 to 2019 and Iraq from March to December 2024. He advanced from specialist to staff sergeant.

His proudest moment came during a mission running a no-cost clinic.

“We ran medical, dental, psychiatric, and veterinary services for a month,” Ksiazak said. “I spent those times doing vaccines, nail trimmings, and heartworm tests. It made me realize how much we were helping because everyone was so grateful.”

The community supported them with homemade meals and coolers of ice and water to beat the summer heat.

Ksiazak continued his service locally by joining the Ottawa Fire Department between deployments after his older brother told him residency requirements had changed.

“It was honestly like the holy grail,” he said. “A fire department nearby that opened hiring to people who hadn’t gotten there yet.”

He was hired in September 2023 as a firefighter EMT and is currently completing paramedic school, which the department is funding.

“It is the best thing,” Ksiazak said. “I haven’t worked a single day in many years, because it doesn’t feel like work. It feels like being with my second family. I’m going to help people.”

Returning home in late 2024 was a special moment. Ksiazak surprised his wife, Alyssa, and their five-month-old daughter, Rory, at the Kris Kringle Market in Ottawa.

“It was a nice surprise,” he said. “It was the day before Christmas Eve. We got pictures with Santa the first day I was home.”

Ottawa Fire Department Lieutenant Ryan Tieman said while he hasn’t had that much time with Ksiazak, as he was deployed after being hired, but in a short time, he has brought great joy, a sense of humor and personality to the firehouse.

“We live with each other for 48 hours at a time,” he said. “I don’t think he’s ever really met anybody he can truly call a stranger... The level of discipline and professionalism that was ingrained from the military carried over to the fire service.”