When Jim Pioth reached a fork in the road of life in 1969, he made a choice that allowed him to benefit from the best of both paths.
Pioth, 68, an Oak Forest Fire Department captain, had had a love of firefighting that began in childhood but said it wouldn’t pay the bills, and he wanted to provide for his then-bride-to-be Claudia and their future family. So Pioth, already a volunteer firefighter at that point, instead pursued a career in photo engraving. But he did not put firefighting behind him.
The “road not taken” as a career path instead became Pioth’s avocation, and the longtime volunteer next month will reach a milestone 50 years with the department.
Pioth’s dedication and commitment to helping others resulted in his recent induction into the Senior Illinois Hall of Fame by the Illinois Department on Aging. Pioth was honored in the Labor Force category.
He was one of three 2015 inductees and is one of 98 people inducted since the organization was founded in 1994 by the Illinois Legislature, according to a city of Oak Forest press release.
A resident of Oak Forest since 1963, Pioth said his interest in firefighting began as a boy. He said three of his uncles were volunteer firemen on the South Side in the 1960s, and an uncle, Ed Heelan, was the assistant fire chief for the Oak Forest volunteer fire department. Pioth became a junior firefighter with the department as a teen.
“The firehouse was on Cicero Avenue and 156th Street,” Pioth said. “We responded from our houses to the station.”
Pioth said his first call as a junior firefighter came during a family party which he and Heelan were attending. A teenage girl had been hit by a car, and he was given the job of holding a blanket to shield her from view. He found helping out exciting rather than frightening, and the incident furthered his resolve to help others. When he turned 18, he became a full-fledged volunteer firefighter.
Pioth was drafted into the Army later that year and spent three years in Hawaii, where he was trained as a printer and began to learn photo engraving. Although he enjoyed learning the craft — which eventually led him to a career working for many major publications, including National Geographic and Playboy — he never lost his love of firefighting.
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“Any time I came home on leave, I was still answering fire calls,” Pioth said. “My heart was always here.”
Discharged from the service in 1969, Pioth resumed his volunteer firefighting duties. Although he did not accept a position as a firefighter when it was offered, he increased his involvement in the fire department, which had been taken over by the city because Oak Forest had undergone a population boom, he said.
Pioth was instrumental in starting the department’s EMT program in the 1970s, training for the skills with three other firefighters. Pioth had agreed to study for the position despite having a full-time job and having started a family. He and Claudia had a son, James, now 44, and a daughter, Kristin, who is 39.
“I was young and I wanted to help people,” Pioth said. “Seeing people dying … I felt it was a way to help people.”
Not long after, he took paramedic classes when Ingalls Hospital began offering them.
In 1979, Pioth joined the International Association of Arson Investigators and became “heavily involved” in the department’s arson investigations, he said. He is in his 37th year as an arson investigator, acting as one of eight duty investigators for MABAS Division 24, a division made up of 20 communities that offer mutual aid to each other, he said.
Pioth’s years of dedication and commitment have earned him not only Senior Illinois Hall of Fame status but the respect and admiration of others.
“As our most senior member, we admire and look up to Jim,” Oak Forest Fire Chief David Griffin said in a press release. “He was one of the founding members of our department and continues to participate and assist on a daily basis. Over the years, Jim’s life has been dedicated to serving with diligence, vigor and loyalty. We take our hats off to his family who has shared him with us for many years. We hope to have him around for many years to come.”
“Honored” by the acknowledgment of his lifelong dedication, Pioth said his family is very understanding about his commitment “because they know I like doing it.” He said he has no plans to “retire” from his volunteer firefighting work.
“I actually love doing it,” Pioth said. “I plan on staying as long as I’m able.”
Ginger Brashinger is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.