After 46 years in public safety, Capt. Gail Lazenby will officially retire Feb. 28 after 11 years with the Villages Public Safety Department.
“We came down here originally to retire,” said Lazenby of the Village of Belle Aire who moved to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown from New York.
Instead, Lazenby found himself doing what he loves — educating.
It would be difficult to calculate the number of Villagers who learned or were saved by CPR education efforts Lazenby has championed.
In addition, Lazenby has also been a driving force behind the continued growth of the AED program in The Villages.
“Last summer, Gail came out to our little neighborhood picnic on a Sunday afternoon and gave a talk on CPR and then started talking about AEDs,” said Evan Richards of the Village of Palo Alto.
The group was inspired.
Now they have two AED units and about a dozen neighbors trained to use them, Richards said.
“Gail can be very passionate, because he cares about keeping people safe, Richards added
Lazenby’s wealth of knowledge has been extremely valuable in The Villages.
“It it wasn’t for Gail, we wouldn’t have CERT,” said Wayne Ward, commander of the Community Emergency Response Team.
Today, the CERT program in The Villages is 290 members strong.
In December, Lazenby was presented with an Appreciation Award by the Tri-County Association of the Deaf in recognition of his seeing that American Sign Language was taught to members of his emergency team.
“He worked tirelessly on having his crew participating in class to learn American Sign Language(ASL) in order for him and his crew to communicate to the deaf Villagers in an emergency situation,” said Lynn Stirling, TCAD Award Committee chair.
Lazenby is a member of St. Paul Parish in Belleview where he has led an effort to collect toiletry items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes and distribute them via backpacks to children in need.
“You have to be in awe of him,” said Villager Dick Campbell who is in the Rotary Club of The Villages with Lazenby. “When he first started this backpack program he didn’t have that many people involved. But nobody can say ‘no’ to him. And he cares about the children. He is a true leader.”
It’s hard to imagine what Lazenby, 66, will do in retirement.
But he did offer a hint.
“Service has always been important to me,” he said.
