When Roger Wittenauer sat down to chat with firefighters from the Amboy and Sublette fire departments at an Amboy Fire Department Depot Days breakfast a few years ago, he mentioned he missed the fire service.

Wittenauer was a firefighter and EMT when he was first out of school, married and living in Ashton. But that was years ago, and Wittenauer wasn’t sure he still was up to the task.

“I said I’d really like to get on the fire service again, but I’m just an old fat man,” Wittenauer said.

One of the firefighters at that table was Nick Dinges, now an assistant fire chief for the Sublette Fire Department.

“Nick said ‘can you drive a truck?’ Yes. ‘Can you run a radio?’ Yes. Then he said ‘we want you,’” Wittenauer said.

That was in 2021. Wittenauer joined the Sublette Fire Department at the age of 62. He completed firefighter training and emergency medical responder training, a 10-week, 80-hour course.

One of the reasons he wanted to return to the fire service was the camaraderie.

“It’s the people around you who make things work every day. You get to make friendships. I just like being around people, and if I can learn from them and if I can teach them something, that’s something I want to do,” he said.

Wittenauer said the department was happy to have whatever skills he brought.

“I said I’m not going to be an EMT, and I’m not going to be an in-house firefighter. My days of that are over. They agreed to that,” he said.

At the end of 2025, when the department had its year-end meeting, Sublette Fire Chief Kevin Schultz called Wittenauer’s name.

“They called my name and gave me a coat. I said what’s this?” he said.

The coat was in honor of Wittenauer answering 90% of total calls in 2025. Wittenauer said making it to the station every time his pager sounds is easier on some days than others.

“During the day, it’s not so bad because you are up and moving around. You get a call, you just run down here and do it. When it’s 2 o’clock in the morning, and it’s snowing and blowing and cold, you really don’t want to get out of bed and go do this,” he said.

But showing up is what Wittenauer said he’d do, and it’s the approach he brings to all aspects of his volunteer work.

“I made a commitment to do this, and that’s what I do. That’s my thing. If I tell you I’m going to do something, I’m going to get it done to the best of my ability. If I tell you I’m going to be there, I’m going to be there,” Wittenauer said.

But the Sublette Fire Department had to wait for Wittenauer.

He retired in 2015 after a 25-year career working for M&M Mars Corp. at two separate Chicagoland locations as a maintenance mechanic, then traveling to various Mars facilities throughout North America to install maintenance systems.

“My neighbor, Dan O’Connell, used to bug me all the time and tell me ‘you need to join the Lions Club.’ I was traveling all the time and gone all the time. I said I can’t do it right now. If I’m going to give you a commitment, I want it to be a commitment and not just a name on a list,’” Wittenauer said.

When Wittenauer retired, he attended a couple of meetings of the Amboy Lions Club and decided to join in 2016.

“The Lions Club has been great. I never knew what it was until I met Dan. I was president for three years. We do all of the normal stuff that the Lions Club does. We try to do a lot in the community,” he said.

Lions Club activities include the traditional Rose Days fundraiser, an Easter egg hunt, and sponsorship of the Depot Days Parade.

Wittenauer is spearheading a fundraising drive to install a fully accessible playground at the former Amboy Junior High School site.

“It’s not going to be cheap, but it’s going to be a full playground,” he said.

One of the ways Wittenauer hopes to attract new members to the Lions Club is by being open to the ideas they bring.

“When we bring new people in, if they have new ideas, we listen to them. We don’t go ‘well, we tried that 10 years ago, and it didn’t work then, so we aren’t doing it again.’ We listen to them. Things change. People change. Communities change,” he said.

It was his work with the Amboy Lions Club that led to one more volunteer gig – with the Amboy Depot Days Car Show committee.

“I have been with them for six years. I got tied in with them when they asked for help with the car show. I helped park cars the first year, and I liked it, so I kept going to their meetings,” he said.

Earlier this year, Wittenauer had separate surgeries to replace both of his knees. That was in addition to a surgery a few years ago to repair a shoulder injury.

Those injuries stemmed from a 20-year career as a high school football referee.

“I traveled all over northern Illinois refereeing high school football for five, six nights a week. I retired two years ago. I had to give it up, but I didn’t want to. I can’t keep up with these young kids. I knew my legs just couldn’t do it anymore,” he said.

Wittenauer said his volunteer drive is strong because he wants to pay forward the help that he was given.

“My feeling with volunteering is that somebody did it for me when I was young. Somebody was out there doing something to benefit me that I didn’t even realize at the time. If I can give back and do something for somebody and the community, great. Now it’s time for me to give back,” he said.