Greg Warner Avon Park Police, retired
Story: “It’s all I ever wanted to do,” said retired Avon Park police officer, Greg Warner. “Law enforcement was always my passion.” Greg served 5 ½ years as a police officer in Dunbar West Virginia before moving to Florida where he served another 21 years in Avon Park before retiring.

Susy Pita Key West Power Company, retired
Story: After a 24-year career with the Key West Power Company, Suzy became a pension plan administrator for that organization. Her expertise grew and so did her commitment to pension plan administration. Today, she is plan administrator for 10 FPPTA member plans in central Florida.

Dan Givens Captain, Miami Fire-Rescue (retired)
Story: His father was a Miami firefighter. His son is a Miami firefighter. His mother, grandmother, brothers and sisters all attended Miami High School and are still living in the community. Captain Givens served 35 years before retiring. “Serving Miami as a firefighter was a gratifying experience that I continue to be proud of.”

Kevin Megno Avon Park Police Department, Road control training officer
Story: Kevin has volunteered as a trustee for the Avon Park Police Pension Fund for the past seven years. He started asking questions about his retirement fund only as he approached retirement. “I waited too long,” he said of his involvement and of the need for younger employees to learn about protecting their benefits.

Emery Hampton Riviera Beach Water & Utilities Department
Story: Emery Hampton is a former Deputy Sheriff from Detroit, but he’s also worked as a Federal Officer for the United States Air Force, and now is employed as a backflow prevention technician by the City of Riviera Beach Water & Utilities Department where he has earned six national certifications in six years.

Steve Aspinall
Homicide Detective, Retired

Story:

“We took care of people. It’s what we were taught,” said Steve Aspinall about his decision to pursue public service. “I first worked in Huntington, New York, for the Urban Renewal department, relocating people being displaced to decent housing. Then I came to Florida to work as a police officer. After a 26-year career in law enforcement, Steve retired as a Homicide Detective for the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Linda Loizzo Chief of Police, North Miami Beach, retired.
Story: On November 5, 1980, then detective Linda Mertes of the North Miami Police Investigative Bureau was at home on maternity leave with her four-week old daughter and two other children. She received an 11:30 p.m. call informing her that her husband, Miami Police Officer Carl Mertes, had been shot and killed while conducting a routine traffic stop.

John Hauff Cape Coral Fire Department, Operation Battalion Chief
Story: “The life expectancy of a firefighter is not near what it is of an average citizen who works 30 years in an office. I hope to outlive the expectancy…” Battalion Chief Hauff is volunteering as a pension plan trustee to ensure that future firefighters will have the same chance to protect their families that he values so much.

David Cloud Fire Chief (interim), Avon
Story: “I started out as a volunteer in 1981. It was something exciting to do.” In 1996, Chief Cloud decided to join the department full-time. When asked about the most important part of his job, he responded, “The most important thing to me is the safety of my crew.”

Raymond Edmondson, Jr. Ft. Lauderdale Police Officer, retired Service included Special Tactical Unit 23-year career, 22 career commendations
Story: While working the tactical unit in Ft. Lauderdale, Ray Edmondson came closer to catastrophe than he could have imagined one night during a gun battle with criminals; but it was the phone call he made to his wife that night that he remembers most.

Carol Knapp Ft. Lauderdale Police Department, Dispatcher, retired Pension Fund Administrator (23 years)
Story: "I was working the radio……my husband had been involved in an accident." Carol Knapp, was working dispatch the night her husband suffered a disabling accident. Their need for his disability benefits turned into a new 23-year career for Carol who now works as a third-party pension fund administrator.

David Lamar Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab
Tampa Police Officers

Story: Tampa Police Officers David Lamar Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab were working the overnight shift when they pulled over a car for a routine traffic stop. As they approached the vehicle in the very early morning hours of June 26, 2010, a front seat passenger with a long arrest record and a recent spate of violent crimes believed they were about to arrest him. The man in the car pulled a gun and shot the two officers, both of whom died from their wounds. Both officers were just 31 years old. Officer Kocab left behind a wife who was then 9 months pregnant. Officer Curtis left a wife and four young sons.

Jeffrey "Scott" Bayne Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue - active duty
Story: In 2009, Scott left his wife and newborn daughter to serve a critical search & rescue mission in Haiti. What he learned there made him grateful....."The equipment that we utilized and the technology that we used to perform these rescues, the other teams don't have it…"

Joe Liguori Delray Beach Fire Rescue
Story: Defined benefit pension plans are critical says Joe, who knows that 401(k) accounts won’t support people throughout their retirement, saying, “It’s beyond what most municipal employees could probably contribute in the time they are working.” Joe volunteers hundreds of hours yearly as a pension plan trustee for Delray Beach and as a Board of Director member of the FPPTA.

Renee Lipton Pension Fund Administrator, retired A co-founder, Florida Public Pension Trustees Association
Story: After retiring from the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department pension fund, Renee helped found a groundbreaking new organization to strengthen public pensions – the FPPTA, which is now 26-years old.

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