For several years in the 1990s, Mike Antenore saw an advertisement come up in the newspaper looking for on-call firefighters, the now-chief of the Geneva Fire Department recalled at a recent Geneva City Council meeting.
He didn’t pursue the opportunity at first, he said, but, at the age of 34, decided to reach out about the advertisement — just in time, given that the ad said firefighters needed to be 35 years old or younger.
Antenore said he ended up reaching Geneva’s then-deputy chief Steve Olson, who encouraged him to try out being a paid on-call firefighter.
He’s spent the past 30 years with the Geneva Fire Department, according to the city, starting as a paid on-call firefighter in 1996, and then working as a part-time engineer and lieutenant. In 2016, he took over as chief.
But now, after a decade in the top post, Antenore is passing the torch. He will retire effective Aug. 14, with Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Lohse slated to take over as the department’s next leader.
“The general service to the community, at all levels, is something you can take with you,” Antenore said at Geneva’s City Council meeting last week.
Having grown up in Elgin, he referred to Geneva, where he’s lived for several decades, as “an exceptional community.”
“This has been the best job I’ve ever had,” Antenore said. “I get up every morning with still the excitement of what the day is going to bring.”
At the meeting, Antenore expressed some “trepidation” about retirement, but said he’s looking forward to “learn(ing) how to sleep through the night again and not carry(ing) two phones in (his) pocket.”
But he recalled fondly the time he spent with the department.
“It’s been a fantastic calling,” Antenore said.
During his time as chief, Antenore led investments in “new apparatus, equipment and facility maintenance to strengthen operational readiness and service delivery,” according to a news release from the city and fire department.
He was also part of modernization and automation initiatives meant to improve efficiency in the department, officials said.
“His leadership, passion and selfless contributions are immeasurable,” Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns said in the news release of Antenore’s tenure, “and his legacy is defined by cultivating a fire department rooted in compassion and commitment to public service.”
Also at last week’s meeting, the Geneva City Council voted to approve the appointment of Lohse as Antenore’s successor. Lohse will assume the post on Aug. 15.
The City Council’s unanimous support of appointing Lohse “is evidence of his professionalism, team building and trust he has built,” Burns said in a news release about the appointment. “I look forward to working alongside Deputy Chief Lohse and building upon the foundation of success he helped develop.”
Lohse grew up in Downers Grove and has lived in Batavia since 2011, he told the council at last week’s meeting. He began his career going door-to-door at different fire stations in the area looking for a job, he recalled, and ultimately got his start as a paid on-call firefighter in South Elgin in the late ‘90s.
He was later brought on in Geneva, rising through the ranks and eventually being appointed deputy chief in 2023, according to the city and fire department.
“This is … an opportunity for me, as a leader of this organization, to not only give back to the members of our department, but to continue to give back to the community,” Lohse said at last week’s meeting.
And Antenore, at the meeting, said that Lohse is “well-prepared” for the job of fire chief.
“You’re going to be in great hands,” Antenore said.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
