Kimrey honored at reception
By Johannes Brann
Dennis Kimrey was honored at the courthouse Wednesday afternoon with a retirement reception after having served as Vernon County’s director of emergency management for 14 years, 8 months.
“I took over from Larry Ewing on May 1, 2003, and there’ve been a whole lot of changes since then, with the biggest being technology and communications,” said Kimrey. He named cell phones, email, chat rooms and the internet but also pointed to increased requirements.
“Nursing homes are now being required to be a part of emergency planning and so I’m sure a future drill will be focused around one of them,” he added. “Storms are the biggest emergencies we usually have,” said Kimrey. “And with those storms have come a few tornados, the microburst and flooding.”
Looking back, he is most proud of the grant he wrote for a repeater and radios enabling communication with the county fire departments. Citing health issues with a family member and being “a believer in not overstaying” but “bringing in some new blood,” he decided the end of 2017 was a good time to pass the baton.
That baton is being taken up by Chris Haynes, who was present and works full time as a supply sergeant for the Missouri National Guard.
Presenting him with a watch, presiding commissioner, Joe Hardin said, “This comes with the sincere thanks of the current commissioners, the prior commissioners you worked under and the citizens of this county for a job well done.”
On hand for the ceremony was Kimrey’s wife, Debbie, and colleagues from across the area including Denise Russell with the State Emergency Management Agency, all of whom added their tributes.
Said Kimrey, “I’m not going to miss my phone exploding whenever there’s a storm but I will miss the great people I’ve worked with.