DENVER — After 35 years of service, Denver Fire Captain Marty Mamigonian finished his last firehouse shift Thursday morning. He's retiring, but his legacy of service continues.
Choosing the fire service was an easy career decision for Marty.
"I actually had friends that were on the fire department, and told me it was a great job, and it would be fun and fulfilling," he said.
After three decades with Denver Fire, Marty is hanging up his helmet.
"Today was my last day of work," he said Thursday. "I got up this morning at the firehouse, had an aloha sendoff, and I'm done after 35 years."
There have been a lot of memories in those 35 years, and a few more Mamigonians, too.
Marty's sons Zach, Gabe and Nick are also now Denver firefighters.
Dad was a built-in mentor.
"Every day, every shift, you call him," Gabe said. "'Hey, what's this?' or 'Hey, this happened. What do I do here?'"
"I think the fun aspect of it is the fact you get to see him at the firehouse, but he's also roving to different firehouses, and you run into him, or you run into the other brother," Zach said. "Or the chance to ride on a firetruck with him at a different station."
"Watching all three of them, and being the little brother, and looking up to them, and looking up to your dad, who is always your biggest hero for me, I think I just saw the profession," Nick said. "I was around it all the time, and listened to them talk about stories about this and that, and how cool it was."
The brothers started at different departments, but all eventually joined Dad in Denver.
They are stationed at three different firehouses, but to celebrate Marty's final week at work, the whole family shared a shift.
"We were actually able to work all together, which is a rarity," Marty said. "So I had all three of my sons on the same rig with me. So we did that on Sunday and had a shift of Mamigonians."
"We can always get together at our own family functions, but there's something about the firehouse," Gabe said. "Something when you're in a fire station that there's traditions that go along with it, and then just knowing that he's been a part of it for 35 years."
Marty plans to keep busy in retirement, but he's ready to kick his feet up, sleep in a little bit, and get in a few more rounds of golf.
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