A Tribute To A Great Person
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Gave It All On
9-11-2001
Current
Threat Level
A
Tribute to Firefighter and Senior Instructor Cleo Keiper
http://training.southcentral.edu/display/?page_id=69
South Central College has established an annual award to be presented to a participant in the instructor training class that is offered at the Minnesota State Fire & Rescue School each year in North Mankato at South Central College.
This college was one of Cleo Keiper's schools while he was working at our office. In my opinion it was his favorite school.
This award is presented to individuals who desire to strive for excellence in training their fellow firefighters.
This first year the award was presented to Captain James W. Kline of Prior Lake Fire Department
Prior Lake is served by a volunteer fire department that provides fire protection from its station located at 16776 Fish Point Road SE. The department under the leadership of Fire Chief Bruce Sames, provides emergency disaster management and planning, fire suppression, rescue, prevention, code enforcement, and public education though the members of the department.
Pictured below is Captain Jim Kline on the left receiving the award from South Central College Public Safety Programs Manager Tim Zehnder on the right during the 2006 school.
Click images for larger view
From Warren and Jan Lee Jorgenson
 Photo taken January
2006
Cleo L. Keiper was the Senior Instructor for the State Fire Training Office. Cleo came to work for the state in 1967. He retired in 1988 after 21 years with the State Fire Training Office. Cleo had a long history with state fire training and was instrumental in furthering the education of firefighters. Photo of Cleo doing what he loved. |
Our Fire Brother, Friend,
Mentor and Co-Worker When you mix training and education you are called a
PROFESSIONAL. Cleo Keiper, On
February
12, 2006, the fire service lost a legend. One of the most gifted
and talented Instructors
our state has ever had. Cleo
Keiper was that man. He was inspirational, dedicated and brilliant. Cleo
was a consummate instructor with a passion for the education of our
firefighters. His
training of the young fire department instructors on this most basic
concepts of educating adults, the nucleus around
which all other teaching revolve will have a forever lasting impact on
Minnesota fire service. One
of his greatest concerns was the education of the training officers and
firefighters. Cleo
taught firefighters the
efficient use of water supplys and how to use the fire department
pumpers. He created many disciples of his training of instructors. Those of us that are teaching firefighter today have Cleo to thank for his expertise and leadership in educational methodology. Many years ago, while at the FDIC (Fire Department Instructors Conference) in Memphis, Cleo said some exceedingly important words to me about fire service instruction. He admonished me, as a young instructor, to "search for and polish new facets in this gem of all professions." Within the fire service, which we all love, the role of the instructor is most certainly a "gem" of a profession and one well worth polishing. Cleo told me, as instructors, we will leave a legacy of unimaginable worth. Many of you younger people will, late in your careers, teach firefighters who are not yet born as you read this page. That is a certainty. By the time you come face to face with this yet unborn generation, we, most probably, will no longer be here on this earth. But we can touch them through instructors like Cleo. That idea is a tremendously exciting prospect. We have wondered: "Who were the instructors who taught the instructors who taught us?" When we sit here today and read this, some of us on the brink of retirement, and link the chain of people who taught us to the chain of people you will teach, the life times of the fire service people involved extend from the closing years of the nineteenth century to well past the middle of the twenty‑first century. It is a rare privilege to be a small part of a work which spans nearly two centuries, one which is so vitally important to the lives and the safety of so many human beings, most of whom we will never see or know. Cleo L. Keiper, you have created a legacy of unimaginable worth. Those fortunate firefighters who benefited from Cleo's insight and his instruction must carry on his work with renewed commitment. President Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, “…It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which, they have, thus far, so nobly carried on.” These words are fitting. Only collectively we can have the same positive effect on the fire service that Cleo Keiper had as an individual. Warren and Jan Lee Comrades in arms and fellow instructors. |
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When
the Lord was creating Cleo
Keiper the firefighter, he was into his sixth day of
overtime when an angel appeared and said, "Your doing a lot of fiddling around on this one." The Lord said "Have you read the specification on this person? Firefighters
have to be able to go for hours fighting fires or tending
to a
person that the usual every day person would never touch, while putting in the back of their mind the circumstances. They have to be able to move at a second's notice and not think twice of what they are about to do, no matter what danger. They have to be in top physical condition at all times, running on half-eaten meals, and they must have six pairs of hands." The
angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."
"It's
not the hands that are causing me problems, " said the Lord,
"it's the
three pairs of eyes a Firefighter has to have." "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The
Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through the fire and where they and
their fellow Firefighters should fight the fire next. Another pair here in the side of the head to see their fellow Firefighters and keep them safe. And another pair of eyes in the front so that they can look for the victims caught in the fire that need their help." "Lord,"
said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this
tomorrow." "I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can carry a 250 pound man down a flight of stairs and to safety from a burning building, and can feed a family of five on a civil service paycheck." The
angel circled the model of the Firefighter very slowly, "Can it
think?"
"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the elements of a hundred fires; and can recite procedures in their sleep that are needed to care for a person until they reach the hospital. And all the while they have to keep their wits about themselves. This Firefighter also has phenomenal personal control. They can deal with a scene full of pain and hurt, coaxing a child's mother into letting go of the child so that they can care for the child in need. And still they rarely get the recognition for a job well done from anybody, other than from fellow Firefighters." Finally, the angel
bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the
Firefighter. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "Lord, it's a tear." "What's the tear for?" asked the angel. "It's a tear from bottled-up emotions for fallen comrades. A tear for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American Flag. It's a tear for all the pain and suffering they have encountered. And it's a tear for their commitment to caring for and saving lives of their fellow man!" "What a wonderful feature Lord, you're a genius" said the angel. The Lord looked
somber and said "I didn't put it there."
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Cleo Keiper was without question one of the pioneers of fire training in Minnesota. It was Cleo and a handful of then "State Fire Instructors" who were charged with the awesome task of training the state's thousand of firefighters. This small group traveled throughout this huge state and spent countless hours in fire stations. Cleo and the others built their own fire training "props" and some of us can still recall their overloaded vehicles going from one training site to the next. It was a tireless task done with determination and dedication. The Minnesota Fire Service greatly benefited from Cleo Keiper. We are better trained and better equipped due to Cleo's effort. He forever changed our profession and for that we are grateful. Peter
Makowski |
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| Guardian angel
thanked Thursday, November 03, 2005 By Cleo Keiper, Hastings After shopping at a local grocery a few weeks ago, I proceeded through the checkout. I reached for my billfold, only to find it was missing. Wow! No money, no credit cards. I was embarrassed, to say the least. I asked the checkout person to give me time to look in my car. I remembered looking through it while in the garage at home. I went to the car no luck. I returned to the store when an angel appeared and offered me the money, no strings attached. She said she was behind me in the line at the checkout. “Please take and use this money,” she insisted. “You can give it to someone else if you don’t need it.” Today that money went to the Hastings Family Service. The billfold was found on the garage floor. We hear and read about so many bad things happening these days, but this is just one of the good things that go on about us that more people need to read about. Thoughtful. Caring. Compassionate. Thank you from the heart. |
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wrjorgenGWDT
Last Updated: 2006