GLADBROOK — After five decades of answering the call, Kenneth “Kenny” Wiebensohn closed out a record-setting career with Gladbrook Fire and Rescue – hanging up his helmet for good on Dec. 31, 2025, before celebrating with his family, friends, and first responder colleagues on Sunday, Jan. 18, at the fire station.

“Not really,” Kenny, 70, said with a chuckle when asked during his retirement party if he had intentionally meant to set the department’s now 50-year record of service. “It just kind of happened. I started right out of high school and just never really got away from it.”

Like many first responders, Kenny’s call to service was seemingly inherited. After graduating from Gladbrook High School in 1975, he served alongside his father, Pete Wiebensohn for about a year before Pete chose to retire following the death of his eldest son, Roland – Kenny’s brother – who died in a house fire near Reinbeck. But Kenny’s firefighting roots go back much further than his dad’s service.

“Way back, my great-grandpa, he was Chief (of a fire department) in Germany. Don’t ask me what town. He passed away in a house fire over there,” Kenny explained. “My brother, he was on Lincoln’s fire department after serving with Gladbrook for a little while. And my nephew Ross, he’s on the Reinbeck Fire Department today. My youngest boy was on our department for a short time (before his job took him out of town).”

“It’s a family tradition,” Angie Wiebensohn, Kenny’s wife, added.

Through the years, Kenny has held every role with Gladbrook Fire and Rescue save for secretary. He was Chief for 22 years collectively. The story behind Kenny’s very first selection as Chief brought a particular smile to his face as he recounted it to the paper on Sunday.

“The department votes on [Chief], and if you’re interested in it, somebody will nominate you. And if you want it, you sit there and wait for the votes. If you don’t want it, you try and get out of it. … But the first year I got voted in, I was in Florida on vacation. And I met a guy down there who was on our department and he said, ‘Congratulations,’ and I said, ‘What for?’ and he said, ‘Oh, you’re Chief!’ and I said, “Aw, shoot.’ [Traveled] back [to Iowa] and, well, he was right,” Kenny said with a chuckle before turning more serious. “It’s kind of like, once you get [Chief], you can’t (walk away from it). You want to walk away from it, but the guys won’t let you. And, to me, if they keep you on that long, you’re doing something right.”

Kenny said when he reached the 40-year mark with the department, he considered retiring but Angie talked him into sticking with it for five more. And then another five more, three more, etc. for posterity.

When asked to recount any particularly-memorable calls he’s been on through the years, Kenny paused before quietly replying, “There’s a lot of them I try not to think of.”

Josh Wiebensohn, Kenny and Angie’s son, brought up one vexing call that took place some time ago over Christmas.

“There was a house fire,” Kenny explained. “The owners were out in Vegas, and their kid was staying at their house and it caught fire. It was one of those hard-to-get-to ones – you thought you had it out, they call you back a couple hours later, ‘It started up again.’ You go back out. That was probably three or four times.”

In his interview with the paper, Kenny also spoke about the changes he’s witnessed over the past half century when it comes to fighting fires. In particular, he said training used to be a bit simpler, less formal.

“Back in the early days, we could just train,” he said. “Now, everything has to be documented for insurance reasons. Just a lot more paperwork than there was back in the ’70s.”

Funding a rural volunteer fire department has also become more complex — with departments increasingly-reliant on grants.

“It’s hard. I mean, you got to watch your budgets. Anywhere you can get grant money, you try for it and hope you get it. We’ve gotten a lot of grant money. … We’ve (also) got a very good, supportive community.”

With his retirement from Gladbrook Fire and Rescue, Kenny is now — officially — a double retiree after similarly retiring from Tama County Secondary Roads back in January 2021 where he had worked as an “aggregate transport engineer.”

As he moved about the fire station’s community room on Sunday, reminiscing with colleagues and friends alike, Angie spoke to the newspaper about the weeks and months ahead for her husband.

“I asked him, ‘So what are you going to do the first time you have a fire?’ He’s like, ‘Ehh.’ If it’s a fire? He’ll show up. … The first time they have a structure fire, I guarantee you. He won’t go with them but he’ll be up here. He’ll be listening on the radio. He won’t admit it, but I know better.”