HARWICH – Harwich Fire Chief Norman Clarke, Jr. announced last week that he will be retiring next July after 43 years of service.
Clarke began working with the department in 1977 and has since worked in every position and rank in the department, he said in a letter announcing his retirement.
“It has been my privilege to serve the board of selectmen and the citizens of the great Town of Harwich. I believe and certainly hope my efforts as a member of the department over the last forty years have made it better than where we started,” Clarke wrote in the letter.
Clarke replaced previous retiring Fire Chief Bill Flynn and has endorsed Deputy Fire Chief David LeBlanc as his own replacement.
“In my retirement, I leave my second family of well trained and certainly dedicated group of professionals. As part of my annual review, the board held me to the standard of creating a succession plan and the folding out of said plan. I pride myself in the professional development of the newest members to the abilities of my second in my command,” said Clarke in the letter.
Clarke said he was pleased to continue the tradition of training up from within the department—a practice endorsed by the board.
Board of Selectman Chair Larry Ballantine said that giving everyone within the department upward mobility gives them a better understanding of their own job by familiarity with every other member’s role, both above and below their rank.
“Not many people can say after 43 years working in one place that they love going to work every single day, and that’s exactly how I feel. It is time for me to let the department go and for me to spend more time with my family,” said Clarke.
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