2016 -- S 3067

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LC006088

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING FRANK M. SYLVESTER, CHIEF OF THE LIME ROCK FIRE

DEPARTMENT, ON HIS RETIREMENT AFTER FIFTY YEARS OF DEVOTED AND

DEDICATED SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND THE CITIZENS OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senators E O`Neill, Doyle, and Nesselbush

     Date Introduced: June 09, 2016

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, Frank M. Sylvester, Chief of the Lime Rock Fire Department in Lincoln,

Rhode Island, is retiring after serving our nation and the citizens of Rhode Island with tireless

devotion and exemplary service for the past fifty years. His faithful and dutiful service to our

nation began in 1953, when he served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He

received an Honorable Discharge in 1955. He later enlisted in the United States Coast Guard

Reserve in 1976, where he was selected and appointed to serve as Command Enlisted Advisor.

He retired in 1994 with the rank of Chief Petty Officer; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Sylvester worked from 1955 to 1965 for the Newman Crosby Steel

Company, serving as the Secretary-Treasurer of Local 3333 of the United Steelworkers of

America; and

     WHEREAS, In 1966, Chief Sylvester began his distinguished public service career as a

firefighter with the Pawtucket Fire Department, retiring in 1988, with the rank of Lieutenant. He

served as Officer in Charge of the Pawtucket Rescue, and later was appointed to serve as Acting

Battalion Chief. He also served as President of Local 1261, IAFF; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Sylvester has served as the Fire Chief of the Lime Rock Fire

Department from 1988 to October of 2007, and again from 2008 to the present. He was appointed

as the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal by Governor Donald Carcieri. He received numerous

honors during his public service career including the Medal of Heroism, a Certificate of

Appreciation from the Pawtucket Jaycees, the Medal of Merit from the Pawtucket Fire

Department, and the Medal of Heroism from the American Legion; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Sylvester has also served and supported numerous public service and

nonprofit associations and boards including the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs, serving

as President from 1993 to 1994, the New England Association of Fire Chiefs, serving as President

from 2000 to 2001, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He is also a member of the

Rhode Island Fire Instructor Association, served as President of the Blackstone Valley Central

Labor Council, and served as the Chairman of the American Heart Association Fund Drive in

1978; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Sylvester earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration from

Roger Williams College in 1975. He has also completed graduate level course work in

Administration Studies from Harvard University. Chief Sylvester was a Fire Science Instructor at

the Community College of Rhode Island from 1977 to 1988, and served as an Adjunct Faculty

Member for the National Fire Academy in 1980. Since 1981, he has served as an

Instructor/Trainer for the American Heart Association, as a Certified Marine

Firefighter/Coordinator for the United States Coast Guard, and as an LNG/LPG Boarding

Officer/Instructor; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby congratulates Chief Frank M. Sylvester on his retirement after fifty years of meritorious

service to our nation and the citizens of Rhode Island. We furthermore wish him a most happy

retirement and continued success in all his future endeavors; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Chief Frank M. Sylvester.

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LC006088

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