A formal farewell: Podgwaite honored with ambulance procession, service
Nov. 12, 2022 | By Cheryl Casey and Lisa Scagliotti | Photos by Gordon Miller and Laura Hardie
Ambulances, firetrucks and other emergency response vehicles gather at Farr’s Field. Photo by Laura Hardie
Waterbury and the Vermont EMS community mourned and celebrated a giant of public service last Sunday.
A somber procession of two dozen ambulances and emergency vehicles traveled 24 miles from Waterbury to Norwich University in Northfield to honor Waterbury Ambulance Service Executive Director Mark Podgwaite Sr., who died unexpectedly on Oct. 14. He was 60 years old.
The vehicle parade assembled and left from Farr’s Field on U.S. Route 2 at 9 a.m. With lights ablaze, three Waterbury Ambulance vehicles led the otherwise silent procession of 25 EMS, fire and other first-response vehicles bearing names of communities across Central Vermont, the Northeast Kingdom, and as far away as Brattleboro and Claremont, N.H. – a clear testament to the wide swathe of Podgwaite’s impact in the EMS community.
Members of Waterbury Ambulance Service in dress uniforms lined the street in front of the Main Street fire station in downtown Waterbury. They stood stock still in salute to their colleagues for the nearly two minutes it took for the procession to pass by under the large American flag waving from an extended fire ladder overhead.
Parked at the fire station was a Richmond ambulance and crew members who were on duty in Waterbury to answer any local calls allowing Waterbury Ambulance members to attend the service; Morrisville EMS members took the afternoon shift in Waterbury as well.
Celebration of Life
With lights still flashing – no sirens – the procession continued on Route 2 to Middlesex, onto Interstate 89 to Montpelier, and down Route 12 to Northfield and Norwich University’s Plumley Armory. There, approximately 300 people including family, friends and many colleagues and students of Podgwaite gathered for the hourlong memorial filled with personal tributes.
Waterbury Fire Department Chief Gary Dillon presided over the service which began shortly after 10 a.m. with the university’s color guard at the lead. Dillon introduced a dozen speakers who shared heartfelt memories and stories that elicited both tears and laughter from those seated in the armory.
Podgwaite’s sister, Joanne Covino, began by sharing a wry and personal portrait of her only sibling, describing him as “incredibly intelligent” with a “caustic sense of humor,” recalling teasing him as being “a middle-aged man” in middle school because “he could do anything: fix it, cook it, build it, refine it.”
She played several recorded voicemail messages where Podgwaite teased her when she didn’t answer his calls. “Is everybody just ignoring me tonight?” he quipped in one, touching off laughter in the room.
Covino then shared a childhood story illustrating how her brother’s career path began early. “I was 2 years old choking on a Frito in the backseat of our car while our mother was driving,” she said. “Mark turned me upside down and slapped me on my back to dislodge it. He was 6 years old.”
Multiple speakers remarked on Podgwaite’s trademark preference for footwear. “Grandpa, your love for Crocs was outstanding,” granddaughter Savanna Larkin said, adding that he “had more Crocs than anyone I know.”
Indeed many family members and co-workers from Waterbury Ambulance Service were wearing the comfortable, colorful plastic shoes in his honor.
Longtime colleague Ray Walker, EMS Program Administrator for the state of Vermont, said he often wondered what it might have been like to have Podgwaite as a parent. “Because as far as I know, the man never said no,” he said. “Mark was often my first call… I knew he was going to say yes.”
In his early career, Podgwaite worked as a chef and then got involved with fire and ambulance services in Northfield, eventually getting his Advanced Emergency Medical Technician license. He served as assistant chief with Northfield Ambulance and was director of Lyndon Rescue before taking the lead role in Waterbury five years ago. The past two years were the most intense in that position during the COVID-19 pandemic. Walker explained how the state, with a skeleton staff to administer many of its programs, routinely calls upon those in the EMS community to lend a hand running vaccine clinics, giving exams, etc. He compared the core group of EMS leaders around the state – many of whom were at Podgwaite’s service – to “a rock ’n’ roll band playing together for decades putting out hit after hit.”
Continuing with the metaphor, he said he reflected on which instrument Podgwaite would have played. “Definitely not the trumpet. Mark was not one to toot his own horn,” he said. “The lead singer? He was not the flashy attention-getter.”
The bass player would be most fitting, Walker continued. “The bass provides a steady, reliable foundation for the music that doesn’t call attention to itself. But, when it’s suddenly gone, you immediately become aware of just how vital it was. The Vermont EMS band has never had a better bass player.”
Podgwaite during the pandemic famously – and sometimes to his co-workers’ chagrin – committed his agency to take on more staff to run numerous testing and vaccine clinics, make home visits to the elderly and disabled, and other needed tasks. For its efforts, Waterbury Ambulance was named Ambulance Service of the Year by the state of Vermont in 2021. Podgwaite was recognized earlier this year with a lifetime achievement award.
“His imprint was firmly affixed to so many parts of the Vermont EMS system today,” Walker added.
EMS educator Kate Soons said Podgwaite was skilled at motivating those he worked with. “Mark moved groups of people as teams toward common goals successfully. This truly is a rare gift,” she said.
Dan Batiste is the Vermont Department of Health’s director of Emergency Response, Preparedness, and Injury Prevention. In an email to Waterbury Roundabout, he highlighted Podgwaite’s innovative leadership as a key partner in the state’s response to COVID-19. “The response in Vermont would be an entirely different picture without Mark’s efforts,” he said.
Podgwaite’s closest colleagues – members of Waterbury Ambulance Service – took to the podium inside the armory as well.
“Trustworthy, humble, and kind” were some of the words team members offered in describing their leader, said Sally Dillon, president of the Waterbury Ambulance Board of Trustees. Caring, understanding, supportive, counselor and a good listener rounded out the list, she said. Dillon shared that in conversations with Podgwaite about the work he put in to make the organization better, “He’d reply, ‘It’s not me. I have the easy part. It’s them. They [the members] are the rock stars.’”
Maggie Burke-Greiner, recently named interim executive director of Waterbury Ambulance, served as the agency’s operations administrator and shared a tight 15-square-foot with Podgwaite. She read the entire letter she sent to the state nominating her boss for the lifetime award he received in May and then shared lighter moments of their working relationship navigating the office printer and Podgwaite’s loud “dinosaur” calculator that used paper tapes. “Mark was grumpy,” she said, to laughs from the Waterbury crew. “He wore his heart on his sleeve and shared his emotions with anyone who would listen...Despite that grumpiness, we had fun at work.”
Turning serious, she praised the crew Podgwaite helped shape. “We are resilient. Since we lost Mark, Waterbury Ambulance hasn’t canceled a vaccine clinic, turned down a request for help, or had the truck uncovered for any period of time,” she said. “Our WASI family will stand strong to make Mark’s dreams a reality.”
The latter comment referred to the agency’s plans to build a new ambulance station in 2023, something Podgwaite had worked on for the past five years.
Waterbury Ambulance Executive Director Mark Podgwaite at the Guptil Road ambulance station in May 2022. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Younger members of the squad attested to Podgwaite as a role model and mentor. “Mark is the reason I am where I am today,” said Waterbury Ambulance President Dakota Metayer, adding that Podgwaite passed on his passion for helping others. “He will always be here with us.”
Colleague and Crew Chief Tom Leeman agreed. “Mark’s calmness in a storm was unmatched,” he said. Speaking to his teammates, he reminded them of their leader’s philosophy to carry with them: “Reflect on the past. Plan for the future, but live in the moment … just be there for each other.”
Lesser known among Podgwaite’s passions was his lifelong love of exhibition poultry. His sister noted that Podgwaite as a child began showing and breeding chickens with their father. Members of the American Poultry Association elected him their president earlier this year. He wrote to the membership in a letter of introduction published in Chicken Whisperer Magazine about his longtime hobby.
“I’m old enough to count some of the poultry greats of our time as friends, competitors, and mentors; and young enough to still relish those experiences which I will never forget,” Podgwaite wrote several months ago.
Colleagues in his poultry circles have commented on Podgwaite’s online obituary attesting to his dedication and commitment. “Mark was one of the kindest, generous & most ethical men in the fancy. Completely devoted & our poultry family will never be the same without him,” wrote Alexandra Wisniewski-Milliman.
Sunday’s Celebration of Life service came to a close with a single Norwich University bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace” following a final tribute made as a radio call as is tradition in the world of first responders. The Last Call read by Scott Bagg of Northfield Ambulance was broadcast by Capitol West Dispatch.
Last Call
Capital West to Waterbury P114.
Capital West to Waterbury Ambulance P114.
Capital West to Waterbury Ambulance Chief Mark Podgwaite.
Capital West to all responders: This is the final call for Mark Podgwaite, chief of the Waterbury Ambulance.
Mark served Central Vermont EMS for decades.
He was a dedicated leader, gifted instructor, faithful volunteer, devoted colleague and steadfast friend.
Mark made his impact on public safety all over Vermont.
His legacy will live on for generations throughout our community.
Mark, this is your final call. Your tour of service has come to an end.
May you now be at peace.
You will be deeply missed and never forgotten.
Capital West clear.
Podgwaite was born December 14, 1961, and grew up in Connecticut, moving to Vermont in 1991. He was a resident of Northfield and leaves his wife Lisa Podgwaite, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, nieces and extended family. A full obituary is online where tributes may be left. The family asks that anyone wishing to make a memorial contribution consider supporting Waterbury Ambulance Service’s Station Creation Project.
Watch the funeral procession here