Seneca County Jail RN Supervisor Ken Majors Honored for 30 Years of Service

By Sheri Trusty, Public Relations/Community Engagement Coordinator

On April 3, friends, family, and coworkers packed the training room of the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office to celebrate Ken Majors’ retirement and honor him for 30 years of service to the residents of Seneca County. On April 4, Majors retired from his position as RN Supervisor of the Seneca County Jail.

Seneca County Commissioner Tony Paradiso was first to honor Majors at the retirement luncheon. He spoke of Majors’ service to the country as a platoon medic; his influential work at the state level as a member of the State Board of EMS; and his local impact as a firefighter, paramedic, regional supervisor for Mercy St. Vincent Life Flight, EMS director, and RN Supervisor for the jail. Commissioner Paradiso stressed that the current EMS system was established because of Major’s efforts.

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“He was always on the front lines and always in management,” Paradiso said. “This guy could write a plan and take care of you at the same time.”

Seneca County EMS Director Chris Hafley presented Majors with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Ohio EMS Chiefs Association. Because members of the board were in Washington, D.C. and unable to attend, they sent their congratulations and their gratitude through Director Hafley. The certificate thanked Majors for being a charter member of the association, and praised him for being an invaluable influence on the association’s success.

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Seneca County Sheriff Fredrick Stevens met Majors in about 1993. Their careers took different paths until they intersected again at the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Stevens didn’t hire Majors to simply lead the jail’s medical department. He wanted him to overhaul its outdated procedures and equipment. Majors led the department through a major transformation, and he is leaving it in far better condition than when he arrived.

“He brought his organizational skills and his leadership skills. He really turned this around in a little over two years,” Sheriff Stevens said. “Chief Deputy Boyer and I have been greatly impressed with your work ethic and have concluded that in our 30-plus years of policing, we have not seen someone knock it out of the park as quickly and effectively as you did.”

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Sheriff Stevens presented Majors with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office and the prestigious Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association/Seneca County Sheriff’s Office Certificate of Merit for his unwavering dedication to the medical department.

“The Certificate of Merit is awarded to a Sheriff’s Office employee for outstanding performance of duty under unusual or difficult conditions,” Sheriff Stevens said.

To receive the Certificate of Merit, that performance of duty must involve the protection of life or property. Majors protected life every time he walked into the jail, and, in reality, for most of his life. The honor was deeply deserved.

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Majors was overwhelmed by the honor he received at his retirement luncheon. Although his work at the jail was challenging from the beginning, it is a bittersweet goodbye. He said he walked into his first day at the jail, shook the RN’s hand, and she gave him her resignation letter.

On April 3, one day before his official last day of work, Sheriff Stevens shook Majors’ hand and gave him a key to the county. Although that key was closing a door to the past, it wasn’t shutting out Majors’ impact on the county. He is leaving a legacy of influence on the Sheriff’s Office and on Seneca County EMS.

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That legacy was built on his dedication to the wellbeing of the people of Seneca County. Majors’ closing words at the luncheon affirmed his compassion for others.

“We were building EMS so when a deputy gets on a scene first, they’ll only have to wait ten minutes, because a deputy always gets there first,” Majors said. “It’s a horrible feeling to be there alone. We were trying to help you help us.”