24 Jan A tribute to OAPC Honorary Chief Major-General Richard Rohmer on his 98th birthday
Today, 24 January 2022, marks the 98th Birthday of Major-General Richard Rohmer, the first Honorary Chief of the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chief, who retired from this post on 1 November 2021.
A living example of public service, the General has spent his life serving Canada, Ontario, the City of Toronto, and so many other communities. In 2012 he was recognized for more than seven decades of public service by the Chief of Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces through appointment as the Advisor to the CDS, then appointed the rank of Honorary Lieutenant-General, the first in the history of the Canadian Armed Forces, in 2015.
Of course, the General is not only recognized in more than 70 years of military service since he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on his 18th birthday in 1942, conducting 135 combat missions as a Fighter Reconnaissance Pilot during the Second World War. The General is also known as the Honorary Chief of Toronto Paramedic Services, the Honorary Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Windsor, Patron of St. John Ambulance Toronto, and Honorary Fire Chief of the City of Collingwood, to name a few.
In addition to being an advocate for Paramedicine in Ontario, the General is also a profound spokesman for Canada’s Veterans and the many issues that Veterans face on a day to day basis. Where possible, the General has combined his three primary loves, the RCAF, Veterans and Paramedics where he could over the years, most notably as the Advisor to the Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, advocated for the participation of Toronto Paramedic Services’ staff in providing medical support of the 125 Second World War Veterans during the 70th Anniversary of D-Day commemorations in France in 2014.
Over the last two decades he has represented the Governor General of Canada at the annual Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs Awards Gala through the presentation of thousands of Canadian Emergency Medical Services Exemplary Service Medals and Bars to Ontario’s Paramedics. The General has said that this role was one of his highest honours, recognizing those in the Paramedic profession “who give so much of themselves, placing themselves in harm’s way every day of the year”. The General notes that this duty is so memorable that it holds a special place in his life, adding to 17 July 1944, that fateful day whilst on a fighter reconnaissance sortie when he spotted the staff car of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel on a back road in Normandy. As Fighter Reconnaissance Pilots were restricted to defensive fighting at this stage of the war, he called in Spitfire support to make combat contact with the staff car, ultimately removing the Field Marshal from the war. The General also counts receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross at 20 years old in 1944, and the Order of Ontario and Order of Canada in subsequent years in this list of high honours. Of course, he adds that his highest honour in life was the day that a beautiful, young, Mary-Olivia Whiteside accepted his proposal of marriage, for a loving marriage of more than 70 years. Sadly, Mary-O passed in January of 2020.
The General continues to be an advocate and supporter of Canada’s Veterans and Paramedic Services members. He speaks fondly of the experiences and opportunities that these relationships have brought him, and he hopes that his life’s effort of public service has been a service of good to “all those who serve” and Canadians at large.
You can send your birthday greetings to our first Honorary Chief by email at: generalrohmer@rogers.com .
Happy Birthday General Rohmer!