Volunteers are the beating heart of Southlake. Every year, scores of volunteers keep the city going through thousands of community service hours. Whether they are restocking shelves in the public library, serving lunches at the senior center, or helping out at special events and fundraisers, residents young and old continuously work behind the scenes to help make Southlake a great place to live.
An Air Force veteran and retired airline pilot, Ken Stewart is used to having others rely on him. This continues to be the case even after his retirement in 2008 because he joined Southlake’s volunteer program. As a volunteer, Ken found ways to show his community spirit through the Southlake DPS Citizens Academy, the Citizens On Patrol and in his current role managing the shooting range at the DPS North Training Facility.
Ken stands out considerably amongst his fellow Lifetime Service Award honorees from the city of Southlake. While many of the city’s most charitable are recognized for hundreds of hours of dedicated service, Ken has logged more than 4,000 hours — and he’s still going strong.
“It could be more than that,” Ken chuckles. “I don’t always put all of my time in.”
A Career Of Service
Even before his time serving Southlake, Ken always had a heart for others. After he and his wife Janie got married out of high school at the age of 19, they went straight into the workforce while juggling night classes at Arlington State College. While Janie began working as an office secretary, Ken immersed himself in grease work as a mechanic for a local aircraft corporation.
“I’ve always wanted to fly airplanes,” Ken recalls. “I got involved with some Navy pilots who took me under their wing, and they made me realize I could fly myself.”
After graduating college, Ken signed up for the military and became a tanker pilot for the Air Force. For seven years, he flew recon support in California and Japan, refueling aircrafts and providing technical support wherever needed.
“We did a lot of travel and deployments — about two or three times a year to Okinawa,” he recalls. “I spent so much time away from my wife and family. It was a big growing experience for us both.”
Ken saw even more excitement when he was reassigned to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. There, he conducted airliner, freight and air-launched cruise missile tests for his research team. He even got called back into duty in the middle of the Gulf War to equip the military for Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991.
After 22 years in the Air Force, Ken transitioned to becoming a pilot for American Airlines, flying people out of DFW International Airport to New York and Los Angeles. Even though he was miles away from any Air Force base or research center, Ken felt fulfillment from his role in safely getting people to their destinations.
“In life, you see a lot of people always moving around,” he says. “I figured early on that I was going to try and be a stabilizing influence on anyone’s life. If there was one small way I could help them keep moving forward, it was worth it.”
Citizen On Patrol
Ken flew for American Airlines until his retirement in 2008. After being busy nonstop for three decades, he finally had a moment to himself — and all he felt was restless.
“After I retired, my son told me I could now get my lawn chair and sit on the front porch,” he says. “That’s the last thing in the world I wanted to do.”
It wasn't long after that he learned about the city’s volunteer program. With his military background, Ken felt he could help Southlake’s police and fire departments the most.
“We always wanted to be part of the city — to do something where we could be of help,” Ken says of himself and his wife.
But before they could do anything, Ken and Janie first needed to go through the Citizens Academy, a 10-week course that educates participants on the inner workings of the police and fire departments. After he graduated, Ken’s first volunteer role was with the fire rehab team, going out on emergency calls with firefighters and ensuring their safety and well-being.
“We retrofitted an old ambulance with water, soft drinks and snacks and responded to emergencies along with the firefighters,” Ken says. “When they come out and they’re all hot and sweaty, we would be there to give them wet towels, water and whatever else they needed.”
Even though he wasn’t putting out fires himself, Ken says he was still close to the action, at one point even witnessing a big fire on South White Chapel. Ken proved to be so reliable he eventually was named a vehicle instructor, helping train other volunteers to respond to their own calls.
“We would get called, drive out, set up our vehicle and be there to provide aid,” Ken says. “We wouldn’t break down and leave until the fire was completely out.”
But Ken didn’t just operate on the fire side — he also signed up for Citizens On Patrol, where he would patrol around neighborhoods and businesses in a retired police cruiser.
“You’re mainly there as a visible deterrent,” Ken says. “If there are people waiting to break into somewhere, if they see a car driving around, they’re less likely to hang around. You’re basically the eyes and ears of the police department.”
Far from an enforcement position, Ken and the rest of the Citizens On Patrol did more than just drive around town. If they noticed motorists having issues on the road, they stepped in to assist them with any issue they were experiencing.
“If you see a problem, you can stop and help whether they ran out of gas, have an issue with the engine or are dealing with a flat tire,” Ken says. “It’s a really fluid role in that regard.”
A Range Of Responsibilities
After years of dedicated service between the fire rehab team and Citizens On Patrol, Ken’s greatest volunteer opportunity came in 2014 when the city’s DPS North Training Facility opened. Back then, range master Mike Bedrich was short a volunteer and needed someone trustworthy to help manage the facility. As usual, Ken fit right in and got straight to work.
“The training environment makes me feel very much at home — because I’ve been part of it so much throughout my life,” Ken says. “I just clicked with it.”
At the training facility, Ken's primary responsibility is to oversee target practices. Whether it involves setting up targets, changing the shooting distance or adjusting the lighting, Ken manages it all from his control booth, simulating different scenarios such as nighttime, police sirens — even strobe lights.
“What I like so much about working here is that you see the results,” Ken says. “I like seeing things working the right way — people perfecting their craft, honing their skills. The small part that I play helps others become a better officer.”
But Ken’s responsibilities don’t stop at the firing range. Whether his work involves repairs, maintenance or restocking supplies, Ken goes where he is needed, when he is needed.
“From sitting in a control room to going across to the other building and making coffee, Ken has a multitude of things that he does for us,” range master Bedrich says. “He will do anything he can for whoever he can. That’s just who he is.”
Ever-humble and modest, Ken values working behind the scenes largely unnoticed, even amongst new volunteers.
“One time we joked with the rookie class of the Citizens Academy and told them ‘That’s Captain Stewart. Don’t make him mad, because if he has to come out onto this range, it’s going to be bad,’” range master Bedrich chuckles. “When he walked out onto the range, those poor kids looked like they were going to lose their minds.”
But his peers quickly learned to drop their guard and grow comfortable around Ken, especially when they saw his selfless spirit for serving others.
“There’s nobody better than Ken,” range master Bedrich says. “If we gotta be in early for some reason, he’ll ask ‘What time?’ If you ask him to stay late, he’ll say ‘absolutely.’ Everything he does allows us to get other stuff done. Without him, we wouldn’t accomplish everything we need to do in a timely manner.”
A Lifetime Of Service
When Ken first signed up as a volunteer with the city 14 years ago, he never expected to be recognized for his hard work. Regardless, Ken received the Lifetime Service Award over the summer for contributing over 4,000 community service hours — the most volunteer hours in the city, according to the human resources department.
“There aren't enough good things to say about Ken,” community initiatives coordinator Valerie Snyder says. “He could be the equivalent of a full-time employee with how much he does around here.”
But as he emphasizes, he doesn’t do it for the recognition.
“I didn’t even know they had an award until I got it,” Ken remarks.
Instead, Ken values the relationships he's made along the way — all of the hands he's shaken, the people met and the small ways he's helped make the city a better place. That's worth more to him than any award could ever be.
“Knowing that others are grateful and knowing that we’re not doing this in vain goes a long way,” Ken expresses. “You don’t get involved in this way for the recognition. I’m not trying to set a record. I’m just trying to help out.”