MFD Office Manager Maria Ramirez receives special commendation along with 5-year service award
T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshalltown Fire Department Office Manager Maria Ramirez, right, received a 5-year service award and a certificate of meritorious conduct from Fire Chief Christopher Cross, left, during Monday night's city council meeting.
In addition to Ramirez, Officers Adan Ortiz Diaz (five years) and David Powell (30 years) were recognized for their years of service to the Marshalltown Police Department during Monday night's city council meeting.
T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshalltown Fire Department Office Manager Maria Ramirez, right, received a 5-year service award and a certificate of meritorious conduct from Fire Chief Christopher Cross, left, during Monday night's city council meeting.
In addition to Ramirez, Officers Adan Ortiz Diaz (five years) and David Powell (30 years) were recognized for their years of service to the Marshalltown Police Department during Monday night's city council meeting.
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After Marshalltown Police Department (MPD) Chief Chris Jones honored Officer Adan Ortiz Diaz for five years of service and Officer David Powell -- who, along with Jones, is the last current MPD officer to have started working for the department in the 20th century -- for an impressive 30 years, it was Fire Chief Christopher Cross's turn to recognize his own office manager, Maria Ramirez, for five years of service. But there was more to the story as Ramirez then received a special commendation for her efforts to assist the police department during an especially difficult situation.
Cross introduced her as "the real fire chief" and described Ramirez as indispensable in her role.
"I just can't thank you enough. It seems like only yesterday you came to the department, but yet it feels like forever because you do such a good job," he said. "Congratulations on five years. I'd love to have you for as long as you'll have us."
From there, he shared the story of his initial concern when he received an email from MPD Sgt. Chris Roush on one of his employees and thought someone had gotten in trouble. As it turned out, however, it was much more positive: the police had had to make an arrest at a local mercantile establishment, and the wife of the suspect, who was not criminally involved, was left stranded with a language barrier.
The woman, who was referred to under the pseudonym "Mrs. G," was afraid and initially called back to speak with the Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT) through an interpreter, but MPACT advocates were out of town at the time and the only Spanish speaking officer was tied up with another case.
Because the police and fire departments operate out of a shared facility, Roush tracked down Ramirez, who is bilingual, and asked her to converse with "Mrs. G."
"Not only did Maria save the day for Sgt. Roush in getting Mrs. G from where she was to where she needed to be in a safe and stable manner, she helped Mrs. G figure it all out and become at peace, so to speak, with what was happening," Cross said.
Roush praised Ramirez for helping Mrs. G in a time when it felt like her world was "coming apart," and she was incredibly effective and empathetic on someone's worst day.
"Her actions bring credit to her, the Marshalltown Fire Department and the city of Marshalltown," Roush wrote in an email to Cross.
Ramirez was then awarded the Certificate of Meritorious Conduct for exceptional performance in a non-emergency situation providing "exceptional and compassionate service to those in need." Roush then stepped forward to share his version of events that day.
"If I had to explain the fear that (Mrs. G) was in, it was like a four-year-old missing their parents in a store," he said.
After Ramirez had talked to the woman for a few minutes, she brought back tissues and discerned the issue, and Roush reiterated his sincere appreciation for her efforts.
Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.