Tuggle retires after several years of working dream job

Toby Tuggle always wanted to be a firefighter, even when he was a student at the old Mark Twain Elementary School.

“I always have been passionate about taking care of people,” said Tuggle, who retired last week as a captain from the Poplar Bluff Fire Department.

As a child, Tuggle remembers going by the fire station, seeing the guys waiting for the next call and seeing them ride on the back of the fire truck.

Throughout the years, he stuck with his dream.

“When I turned 18 years old, Chief Bob Fredwell let me be a volunteer firefighter,” he said. “I loved the job and was at every call I could possibly go to.”

Tuggle’s passion to become a firefighter with the city fire department grew even more.

“Volunteering didn’t bother me in the least,” he said. “When I was able to get on the city and get paid for it, that was a huge bonus.”

“I was hired by Chief Randy Hastings in June of 1995 to work as a firefighter for Shift Commander Charles Sweeza on A shift,” he said. “I loved my job. As I worked for a few different officers throughout the years, a great one would retire and another take his place. I gained great knowledge and respect for them. I was promoted to captain in 2009. So for 29 years on A shift I’ve been proudly serving the citizens of Poplar Bluff. I’ve worked with some amazing people and have made some great friendships throughout the years.”

Along with Sweeza, Tuggle talked about Robert Wallace.

“I knew I would be there one day. I had to be vigilant in what I was doing to leave that example for others,” he said. “One of my mottoes is lead by example. I always wanted to lay an example out for others, whether it be my kids, or these people at the fire station. You consider them family just the same.

“I want to be something they’re not going to forget. I never wanted to be just an employee. I wanted to be somebody people recognized. I didn’t need anybody to pat me on the back. I was there to know they were okay. They were taken care of.”

Tuggle talked about other firefighters he worked with long term including Stacy Harmon, Mike Moffitt and Jeff Hale, as well as Steve Burkhead, who joined the force about the same time he did.

“Now we’ve got some impressive young people, tremendous people coming into the department,” he said. “The people, they have huge hearts, like Michael Lindemann, who come from the county. He’s one of the newest ones. Tanner Tibbs, he’s also a paramedic, but the guy’s got a huge heart. Those people, they’ve got a passion about this job.

“I’ve loved my job wholeheartedly, because when you love what you do, it ain’t like work.”

Looking back at his life, he said, his family instilled a work ethic in him that’s left an impression.

“I still live by that. Wherever we go, I’m a busy body, I will be doing something whether it be working on a campground picking up trash,” he said.

Tuggle is trading his firefighting career to become a traveling man along with his wife Melissa, who is a traveling emergency room nurse.

Melissa worked emergency medical services for 13 years before becoming a registered nurse specializing in emergency room care.

“We are going to be traveling everywhere,” Tuggle said. “We like to travel. I told her whenever she was ready to start being a traveling nursing, I would retire and we’d hit the road.”

The Tuggles bought a travel trailer and are heading to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, for her first assignment. The town has a population of 5,300 and hospital has 24 beds. Melissa likes small towns.

“That’s right up her alley. “ Tuggle said. “She’s a little younger than me. She still has a little more time to work. She will work three days a week and we get out and explore the rest of the time.”

They have seven grandchildren and four children, Tara, Tiffany, Trey and Tyler.

Some of them travel, too.

“They do road construction and live in a travel trailer. In the wintertime, when roadwork slows down, they’ll find wherever we’re at and come hook up with us. We will have grandkids here we’ll still see. Either they’ll come visit with us or we’ll meet with them somewhere. We got to keep in touch with the grandkids,” Tuggle shared.

“If we don’t like New Hampshire, we’re only going to be there 13 weeks,” he said. “I’ll find new people to meet. My grandpa always had a saying, if he didn’t know somebody, they must have just moved to town. I have that same perspective, I’ll talk to anybody.”

Tuggle said everybody has a time to move on and do different things in their life.

“I don’t want to stay around and do things until I’m not able to do anything else. I like traveling. It just so happens that’s what my wife likes. We can get out, enjoy life, make money or do what we want to do,” he said. “You’re not promised tomorrow. People pass on all the time. I may die next week, but if I do, I do want you to report that I was happy in whatever I was doing

“Now it’s time to move on in life and close this time I’ve had at PBFD as 52 still on A shift,” Tuggle said. “Thanks again to all my mentors, friends and family who have supported me throughout the years, I appreciate and love you. Hold the fort down.”