James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2009 - Index

AlumniNews
{Double Legacies}
Loyalty and legacies
Firefighters share family career paths and alumni legacies
By Sande Snead (’82)
Loyalty and legacy are words that come to mind when
describing five dedicated Richmond firefighters who
all hail from the same alma mater. David Griffin,
Kevin Knight, Kim Roberts, Chris Davis and Michael
Oprandy work at different stations around the city, but
they have a number of things in common — many come from a
family legacy of firefighters as well as a legacy of Dukes.
Both Lt. Michael Oprandy’s father and brother are in the
firefighting business, but check out the purple blood running
through the Oprandy family veins: Oprandy (’02), his brother,
one of his sisters, his wife, her sister, her brother and his wife are
all JMU grads.
Likewise, Chris Davis’ (’76) grandfather was a police officer,
and his father was a firefighter, so his career path was pretty clearly
Richmond Dukes and
career firefighters
Chris Davis (‘76),
David Griffin (’81),
Kevin Knight (‘99),
Kim Roberts (‘01)
and Michael Oprandy
(‘02) hail from families
of firefighters.
defined. So was his college choice. Four of
his seven sisters graduated from JMU. His
daughter, Heather Davis (’10), is a junior
at JMU.
Kim Roberts (’01) is a fourth-generation
firefighter. Her great-grandfather
was a New York City firefighter, and her
grandfather and father were New Jersey
firefighters. “I’ve always known I wanted to be a firefighter,”
she says, “but I still wanted to go to college and study different
things just to be sure.”
Roberts is pleased with her decision. “Every day is exciting,” she
says. “You never know what to expect. It’s very dynamic and it feels
good to know that you are helping someone almost every day.”
‘I’ve always known I wanted to be a firefighter, but I still wanted to go
to college and study different things just to be sure.’
— Kim Roberts (’01)
52 MADISON MAGAZINE
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF RICHMOND CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT