Memorial Service Saturday at Santee Fire Station #4

May 4, 2010 (Santee) – For nearly three decades, Johnny L. Terry served with the Santee Fire Department, rising from the ranks of pioneering volunteer firefighters to become Division Chief. Retired since 1986, he passed away on May 2, 2010. A memorial service is scheduled for noon on Saturday, May 8th at Santee Fire Station 4, 8950  Cottonwood Drive. A celebration of his life will follow at a separate location to be announced.

“He was a great, common sense guy and a good friend who would do anything for you,” recalled former Fire Chief and retired City Manager George Tockstein, who worked with Terry for 20 years. “He always cared for the other guy...He had a strong commitment to his family and he loved his kids.”

Born June 4, 1932 in Raymondville, Texas, Terry attended Robert E. Lee high School in Baytown, Texas. He married Elaine Joan Krogman in March 1952. The couple moved to California in 1955 and spent most of their 54 years together in Santee and El Cajon, where they raised six children.
 

He joined the Santee Fire Department as a volunteer in 1957, just one year after the Department was founded and long before Santee became a City. The first fire station was an outbuilding behind Floyd’s Shell Station on Mission Gorge Road, topped by a washing machine that housed a siren to notify volunteers of emergencies. That same year, land was leased from the County to build a permanent station. In those early days, the Department relied on Dodge fire engines from the 1930s and 40s.  In 1962, the Department bought a used bread truck to serve as the first ambulance—starting a paramedic program which Terry would later head up.
 

While a volunteer firefighter, he worked at a distribution center for the Cudahy Packing Company. He often worked at more than one job at a time and operated part-time businesses to provide for his growing family—chopping firewood, mowing fields deemed fire hazards by the County, and running a part-time commercial fishing venture.
 

In 1963, he was hired as one of the Fire Department’s first full-time employees. Eight months later, he became a Fire Engineer. The Department acquired its first yellow firetruck in 1964 and its first Air Force tanker a year later to serve as a brush rig. Terry was promoted to Fire Captain in 1970 and Battalion Chief in 1973 (a title later changed to Division Chief). In 1972, a new fire station was built on Cottonwood.

From the mid-‘70s until his retirement, Chief Terry also headed up the first paramedic program in San Diego County, overseeing personnel, equipment, and protocol. Santee officially became a City in 1980 and the Fire Protection District became the City's official Fire Department in 1985, one year before Terry retired in 1986, receiving a proclamation by then-Mayor of Santee Jack Doyle.
 

John Cincotta, a retired Santee Fire Captain, was a rookie firefighter who worked under Chief Terry from 1979 to 1986. “You knew he was the boss, but he didn’t boss you around,” he said. “He was a fabulous individual and I’ll miss him terribly.”

Terry ran the shop and enjoyed fixing things around the fire station, Cincotta recalled. When the Division Chief retired, he left fellow firefighters with a spool of baling wire mounted on a plaque that read, “To a great bunch of guys. If everything else fails, try this.”The baling wire remains there to this day--part of Terry's legacy to the Department he helped build.

In his spare time, Chief Terry enjoyed fishing, hunting and woodworking, spending summers at a family cabin on Mammoth Creek near Cedar City, Utah. After he retired, he traveled the country with his wife in their motorhome, exploring historical landmarks and natural wonders across America. Toward the end of their 54 years together, they visited Hawaii—the one state not reachable by motorhome, and were proud to say that they had been to all 50 states.
 

He was also an active community volunteer. He served as president of the Santee Kiwanis from 1977 to 1978 and was a charter member of the Santee Exchange Club, where he chaired nearly every community service committee. He helped form the Book of Golden Deeds program to reward community volunteers and received the award himself upon his retirement. He also volunteered with Red Cross to provide emergency medical care in the community and sered as a troop master with the Boy Scouts. Terry and his wife were active members in the El Cajon Elks Club #1812, where they were part of the Wandering Elks camp group.
 

His wife, Elaine,  passed away in April 2006. A son, Mike Terry of El Cajon, died in 1984. Chief Terry is survived by five children: Brenda Pineault of Houston, Texas, Jolene (Jodi) Crowley of El Cajon, Steve Terry of Inman, South Carolina, Kerrie Terry of Palm Springs, and Kelly Terry of San Diego; seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Sharp HospiceCareFund: https://www.sharp.com/grossmont-foundation/tribute.cfm . (Select “LakeView/ParkView Hospice Homes” and list John Terry as the person you wish to memorialize.)