The California Highway Patrol held a special ceremony Wednesday to honor a man with 50 years on the job.
He says it's easy to go to work every day when your work is fun.
"I'm at the stage now where the young cadets that come through, they used to say, 'My dad said hello.' Now, they say, 'My grandfather said hello."
Richard Lomax is 70 years old. He was 19 when he was hired to work in the CHP's Food Service Unit. He retired seven years ago, and then became a senior citizen volunteer at the West Sacramento campus. Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio
According to CHP Commissioner Joseph Farrow, Lomax has had a profound effect on the department.
"You're talking about a man who's devoted his entire life, his adult life, to public service for the California Highway Patrol. It's a man that I met as a cadet, as a young officer, as a 23-year-old officer. He was here at this academy when I was training," Farrow says.
Farrow continues, "When you think of this academy, it's just a building, but it's a building comprised of a lot of people and this man touched every one of them."
A plaque celebrating Lomax' service was mounted on the wall of the dining facility. The CHP also had a first-of-its-kind pin created for Lomax to wear on his uniform.
Richard Lomax is in three pictures from different decades on the dining area wall at CHP Headquarters in West Sacramento. Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio
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