Steve Cook named 2024 Civilian of the Year by Seneca County, OH

By Sheri Trusty, Public Relations/Community Engagement Coordinator

When Seneca County Sheriff’s Office Maintenance Supervisor, Steve Cook, was nominated by his peers for the 2024 Civilian of the Year Award, they didn’t just recommend him for doing a good job. They recommended him because they know the Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t be the same without him.

One nominator wrote, “I don’t know how this place operated before him,” and another said, “Steve is the best maintenance employee to have ever worked at this office, and we are blessed to have him.”

Seneca County Sheriff Fredrick Stevens presented the 2024 Civilian of the Year Award to Cook on March 24. Cook also received the award in 2022.

Cook brought four decades of maintenance experience to the position when he joined the Sheriff’s Office.

“I’ve been in maintenance for about 40 years,” he said. “My dad ran a garage, Cook’s Garage, in Fostoria. He worked on all sorts of things for cars. I started working in his garage when I was in fourth grade, and my dad taught me to do a job right the first time.”

After high school, Cook served in the Air Force as a hydraulic mechanic, and when he left, he went to school for injection molding. At one point in his career, he worked at National Machinery for 15 years.

“At National Machinery, you do things right the first time. It was the same as my dad. That carried over with me,” he said. “It may take a little more time, but you know it’s done right.”

Cook spent 14 years working at another local factory before seeing an ad for a maintenance supervisor at the Sheriff’s Office. That was three and a half years ago, and he is glad he made the switch. Here, Cook is in charge of maintenance in the Sheriff’s Office and the Seneca County Jail.

Cook is a bit of a maintenance octopus, because his competent hands reach into every area, from jail cell showers and deputy cruisers to dispatch computers and kitchen sinks. He fixes, remodels, maintains and improves the things that show up on his never-ending to-do list.

“I do plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and network wiring, and I install sinks, repair kitchen equipment, and work on dryers,” he said. “I plow the drive in winter, do weekly generator checks, and record hot water and heat temperature checks to make sure we meet guidelines. When I started, I did a lot of research on the computer to make sure we were in compliance with things, and I called inspectors before they came, to see what I needed to do.”

Cook moved the dispatch department – and all its tech equipment – to its new location inside the Sheriff’s Office, and he remodeled the Command Staff offices. He maintains the outdoor flags and the county gym.

He keeps the cleaning crew’s equipment working, and he cleans up his own jobs as he goes, especially inside the inmates’ cells.

“Our place is very clean. We work to keep it clean,” he said. “The inmates are here because they made a mistake, but they’re still human. They deserve to live in a clean cell.”

The respect he shows inmates doesn’t go unnoticed.

“The inmates have never given me trouble because they know I’m there to help them,” Cook said. “Sometimes, I’ll be out in public and hear someone call my name, and it will be a former inmate.”

Cook is on call all day, seven days a week, because the jail never closes. If the heat goes out or there’s a water leak in the middle of the night or on the weekend, Cook drops what he’s doing and heads to the Sheriff’s Office.

Cook’s commitment to doing things well and serving the people around him with compassion earned him the Civilian of the Year Award. He is grateful to work in such a supportive environment.

“The Sheriff is so nice, and the people are wonderful here. They back you up,” Cook said. “They appreciate you. I’m not used to that. It makes it nicer to come to work every day when you’re appreciated.”