The daughter of Clayton’s first fire marshal on Tuesday retrieved her father’s retirement badge after losing it in Florida.
Jill Halsey, 75, of St. Charles, lost the badge at a Florida restaurant years ago — when, exactly, is unclear. But now, thanks to the diligence of Clayton fire Chief John Paul Jones, as well as the Florida man who found the badge, Halsey again has a piece of family history.
“It’s like a piece of him is back with me,” Halsey said of her father, Roy Weckherlin. “The fire department was everything to him.”
Ray Wright, 66, of St. Petersburg, Florida, found the badge in 2016. He initially turned it in to the restaurant’s lost and found, but curiosity led him to take a picture of the badge and conduct his own research. He discovered the badge was from Missouri, so he contacted the Clayton Fire Department.