Collene Funk
Meet Collene Funk, who started work at Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue in 2017 as an office clerk. In 2018 she became an Emergency Medical Technician and she now serves as an emergency medical services volunteer.
Collene has spent most of her adult life in the Pacific Northwest except for three years when she and her husband lived aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean. After finishing a tour of the islands, they moved to Port Ludlow in 2014. The couple have been married for thirty-three years and have two adult daughters, both living in Oregon.
Her interests away from work include reading, sewing, and physical fitness. She has run five international marathons to raise awareness and financial support for the American Diabetes Association and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Although she joined Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue because she wanted to help others, she feels the reverse to be true, and appreciates that she has been helped tremendously by the training and mentorship she has received. She says the hardest part of her job is seeing people in pain. The best part of her job, she says, are her co-workers. “It’s a privilege to work with such terrific crews.”
This article was previously published in the February 2021 edition of the Port Ludlow Voice.