TOP RUNG

Go ahead, call Andy Rick a hero. The 17-year veteran of the Lake Forest Fire Department will thank you but he’ll also kindly disagree with you. “Some calls turned into cool stories,” recalls Rick, sworn in as chief of the department in January after serving it as a firefighter/paramedic, lieutenant, battalion chief, and deputy chief. “Adrenaline gets going and you do what you have to do for others on calls. I met many wonderful and supportive people of Lake Forest while on the job—many times, sadly, on the worst day of their lives.” One resident fell at home once, twice, thrice, the third time a forerunner to surgery. “We got a thank you note after the third fall, informing us that the hip surgery went well,” says the 41-year-old Rick, who succeeded Pete Siebert. “The note was nice, but all we did was our job.” For generations, it seems, youngsters’ responses to, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” have been astronaut or firefighter or doctor or pro athlete. Succeed in any of the fields and you’re deemed a hero. But more often than not, the hero doesn’t want to be worshiped as such as an adult. “As an Exercise Science major, I thought I’d become a chiropractor,” says Rick, whose father, Tim Rick, capped his firefighter career as lieutenant in Vernon Hills. “I changed my mind halfway through college (University of Iowa) after observing firefighters in Iowa City and a conversation with my father, who never pushed me to become a firefighter, never even suggested it. I see what I do as an opportunity to be a servant leader, and servant leadership is in line with my core values.” Maybe that’s it. Maybe heroes are folks who display core values—selflessness, empathy, responsibility, commitment—at home, at work, at play. Our hero’s heroes? “You’ve probably heard this before but I’m going to say it anyway, because it’s the truth,” begins the Mundelein native and the parent of three sons with wife Terese. “My heroes are my mother (Julie, a former assistive technologist with Special Education District of Lake County) and father. They made sacrifices as parents when I was young and taught me to be a good person.” One thing that watching Rick and listening to Rick makes you realize is that maybe we don’t have to don turnout gear and bunker boots and a cool-looking fire-and-rescue helmet to make a difference. Just be true to yourself daily. Put others first and turn their worst days into hopeful ones. And there are no actions more heroic than that.