Jeffrey Poppe:
CLASS OF 1977
Kimball High SchoolClass of 1977
Royal oak, MI
Oakland Community CollegeClass of 1985
Bloomfield hills, MI
Henry Ford High SchoolClass of 1977
Detroit, MI
Mettetal Junior High SchoolClass of 1974
Detroit, MI
Isaac Newton Elementary SchoolClass of 1973
Detroit, MI
Jeffrey's Story
LIFE
Being born and raised in Detroit, most of my educational experience was within the Detroit Public School system. I attended Detroit Henry Ford High School during my Sophomore and Junior years. It was prior to my Senior year that my parents decided to move to Royal Oak. Starting a new school in my Senior year was a rather difficult transition for me I must admit. Unfortunately, I tended to be a loner (my way of rebelling against the move I suppose) and basically graduated without much "pomp and circumstance," so to speak. I found myself unsure of what to do with my life after graduating from Royal Oak Kimball in 1977. I decided to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard, as my childhood dream was always to sail on the Great Lakes ore carriers (Boy, did my life take a different direction!) I spent nearly five years in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1978-1983, spending most of my time on Lake Erie and the East Coast. After leaving the military, I enrolled at Oakland Community College for two years. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in my Junior year, but during that time, I met my wife and she became more important than my studies (codeword for going on academic probation). After bouncing around a few different jobs, I finally landed in what at that time would become my new career.
I served with the Royal Oak Fire Department since December 4,1988, hiring on eight months after getting married. I was a Professional Firefighter/Paramedic/HazMat Technician with the department, in addition to being the Team Leader/Executive Board representative for the Oakland County-South HazMat Team. I was promoted to the rank of Fire Sergeant as of April 2006 and was the coordinator for public education (CPR, First Aid training, etc.) for over eight years. I also worked in a contingent capacity in the Department of Hospital Safety and Security with Henry Ford-Macomb Hospital in Clinton Twp., MI. from 2004 to 2012.
I was married for just short of 26 years to a beautiful woman from Tipperary, Ireland, which sadly ended in divorce in March of 2014. We still have been blessed with two incredible children (32 year old daughter & 26 year old son). At present, I am living in Shelby Township, MI after selling my home of 18 years that is near Lake St. Clair in Harrison Twp., MI. At this time, I am currently single.
With the uncertain political and financial challenges that many local communities often face, I elected to retire from the Royal Oak Fire Dept. as of March 31, 2011, with over 25 years of credited service. I must add however, that "retirement" is somewhat of a misnomer as I began a new career as the Lead Hyperbaric Technician at St. John Hospital & Medical Center, Detroit, as of March 21, 2011. I have since left that position as of August, 2014. I was charged with operating the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) chambers in the Wound Care Center.
I am currently working full-time for Trinity Health Oakland Hospital in Pontiac. I am a Physiologic Monitoring Coordinator (which is a discipline in the area of cardiology). It is my hope that this will be my final career stop until I "officially" decide to retire at some point.
I am still excited to pursue a new chapter in my life along with new challenges and adventures that ...Expand for more
go with it. It's now been 47 years since High School graduation, and I often to this day reminisce of sailing on a Great Lakes freighter and wonder where my life would have taken me if it had come to fruition. I am glad to say, I don't regret in the least, the direction my life has gone. In fact, I believe I have accomplished much more than I thought I ever would. I have been truly and richly blessed!
MILITARY
The military for me was for the most part a very rewarding experience. However, the initial indoctrination to "military life" was not always so easy. Here I was, a long-haired kid from Detroit, stepping off the bus after arriving at boot camp (Cape May, New Jersey) and making a comment to our "host and greeter" of how impressed I was with his shiny shoes. It cost me 25 push-ups right then and there (Ah yes, nothing like making a good first impression!). Because I decided to show up to boot camp with my long-flowing locks, I was selected to be the first recruit in my platoon to experience the "gentle" hands of the resident "stylist", "Max the Axe". The entire company was able to witness my first sense of baldness since perhaps infancy, and in the mean time, have a great laugh at my expense (I thought I recall saying, "Just a little off the top, sir").
After boot camp came vocational training for my chosen trade. I became a Boatswain's Mate due to the focus on every aspect of seamanship. Plus, Boatswain's Mate's are the one's given command responsibilities where a commissioned officer is not required to fill that slot. Yorktown, Virginia was the location for the school and what was so unique, was that the battlefield where the Revolutionary War was finally won was right outside our main entrance gate. To stand on the same ground as those who fought for our independence was pretty awe-inspiring.
After a brief stint on board the Cutter "Reliance" (WMEC 615), also out of Yorktown, I arrived at a Search and Rescue station in Erie, PA. While there, I worked my way up the promotional chain and achieved the rank of BM2/E-5 (equivalent to Sergeant in the Army). In addition to the primary mission of search and rescue, our focus was on vessel safety and boardings. I was sent to several specialty schools to train in maritime law enforcement. In fact, I really thought that I would pursue a career in law enforcement upon leaving the Coast Guard. Erie's station was located on a State Park (Presque Isle), so the summers were quite eventful with the number of vacationers and such. The winters on the other hand could prove to be pretty brutal. If there was a heavy snow, we were basically locked in, as the station was 10 miles from the mainland, via one road. Wintertime search and rescue consisted of fishermen falling through the ice or worse yet, being stranded on an ice floe that separated from shore, leaving them to drift out into Lake Erie. I spent four years there and actually thought about staying. I was offered a law enforcement officer position with the Pennsylvania Fish Commission (DNR), but I had never declared residency. It would have meant staying at least a year before I could actually apply for the job with nothing else really in the works. I decided to return to Michigan and pursue college. The rest they say is history......
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos
Register for Free to view all photos!