June 21 is a day of special significance for Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Reitz of Kingfisher.

For one thing, it’s his birthday. For another, it was his first official

For another, it was his first official day as a state trooper 37 years ago.

And last week, it was the day he turned in his uniform, badge and equipment in preparation for his official retirement this week.

“I walked in as a civilian 37 years ago and walked out as a trooper,” he said. “Last week, I walked in as a trooper and walked out as a civilian.”

A native of Brownsville, Texas, Reitz started his professional life as another kind of first responder – a paramedic/EMT.

“I went to college in Gainesville, Texas, for EMT training and worked for a Gainesville ambulance service while I was in school,” he said. “Then I moved to Shawnee and worked five more years there as a paramedic/ EMT.”

He enjoyed the work, but Reitz didn’t see it as a long-term career.

“Being a paramedic is a young person’s job. The physical part of lifting and moving people and the 24-hour shift work is hard on the body,” he said. “And the only opportunity to advance would be to move into administration.”

That’s when he thought about the troopers he met while responding to accident scenes.

“I became friends with several of them and always admired what they did and respected them as professionals,” he said. “Brownshirts are held in high regard in Oklahoma, plus the retirement system is great.”

Reitz applied for trooper positions in both Oklahoma and Texas, but Oklahoma made the first offer.

He was one of 52 cadets who graduated from the 41st OHP academy and was one of eight troopers assigned to Troop J, which includes Kingfisher County.

(Another was Desmond Barnett, also of Kingfisher, who retired a few years ago and now works for the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office as courthouse officer.)

“I originally was assigned to Hennessey. Don Hennigh broke me in,” he said of his eight-week probationary period. “Then I was transferred to Kingfisher.”

That’s where the need to get his uniform altered brought him into contact with talented Kingfisher seamstress Dawn Smith.

It only took a few more meetings to adjust the uniform, followed by a few months of dating, before a wedding in March 1986 and a 36th anniversary celebrated this year.

Reitz started his career with every intention of sticking with it – only he was thinking more along the lines of 25 years, he said.

“I don’t know why I had that number in mind, but I sailed right past 25 and the next thing I knew it was 37,” he said.

While he’s responded to his share of horrific traffic accidents over the course of his nearly four decades wearing the badge, the incident that made the biggest impression on him is the same one that is seared into the memory of every Oklahoman over the age of 30.

“In ’95, I was assigned to the OHP academy in Oklahoma City as a medical officer to provide first aid and treat injuries and that’s where I was when the Murrow Building bombing happened,” he said.

“We were up very early in the morning with the recruits and then had gone back to bed to get some shut eye before starting the rest of our day,” he remembered.

“The building shaking at 9:02 a.m. is what woke me up.”

He and the other medical officer shared a suite with a member of the OHP bomb squad.

“I heard him up rustling around so I turned on the TV and saw what was going on. I woke up my partner and we self-deployed to the bombing site.”

Reitz said that would never have happened now, but before the bombing, there was no such thing as major incident response protocol.

He and his partner set up a triage station for injuries at the northwest corner of the Murrow Building about 30 minutes after the bombing happened.

“We were there all day before we were relieved and then came back again for the next several days,” he said.

“We saw some pretty horrific injuries coming through.

“We later took the academy cadets down there so they could get some real world disaster assistance experience.

“I’ve seen a lot of death and destruction but that was the worst. That’s what sticks in my mind the most.”

Reitz also did search and response training in the academy for five years before he was promoted to lieutenant in 1998.

He got his pilot’s license in 1992 and in September 2002 he was transferred to the OHP aircraft division, doing a stint as supervisor of the fixed wing pilots.

His pilot training also caused him to take an interest in Kingfisher’s airport, serving many years on the airport board and helping orchestrate improvements to end the county’s reign as the only one of the 77 in the state without a paved runway.

Watch for a related story about recent airport improvements in a coming issue of the Times & Free Press.

Reitz also took on additional duty in the officer assistance program for several years, helping with peer-to-peer support to help officers handle the stresses associated with the job.

“We’re blessed here in western Oklahoma to have a lot of support and appreciation for law enforcement,” he said. “Troopers from the eastern part of the state don’t always get that.

“Kingfisher County in particular has always been great.”

With retirement years rolling out before him, Reitz has no plans to take it easy.

He and wife Dawn operate The Quilt Lady, a local quilt and sewing shop that is developing clientele from across the state.

They also have a vacation home in Colorado that occupies quite a bit of their interest, along with keeping up with their extended family:

Son Randy and Dana, who live in Newcastle with their children Brinkley, Jackson, Madison and Halli.

Son Clinton and Whitney, who live in Andover Kan., with their children Will, Finley and Eva.

“I am fortunate to say that looking back over my life so far, I don’t regret any decisions I’ve made.

“I’ve had a good career and I’m looking forward to what comes next.”