LHP fire chief prepares himself for retirement
When Lighthouse Point Fire Chief David Donzella woke up on Oct. 22, it was the first full day since 1978 that being a firefighter hasn’t been the background music of his life.
Since he graduated from high school and into the fire service, Donzella has awakened to an alarm; juggled family life around a changing work schedule and, for the past 11 years, done an hourlong road warrior commute each way from Davie to Lighthouse Point. It is his second retirement since 1978 and - not surprisingly he plans to spend more time with what he loves: beginning with family.
Finally, he said, he has the flexibility to move his 93-year-old father from Tennessee and spend time with him.
“My parents gave up so much for us kids, ” Donzella said of growing up in Pembroke Pines.
Today, Donzella and his fiance Robin Bepler like to travel. Now, instead of trips of three or four days, they can repeat a trip of three years ago to Utah’s Monument Valley, a place so isolated, he said, “it was totally dark, and you could see clear sunsets with all the colors of the rainbow in the sunset.”
From there, he heads for Las Vegas for a car parts and accessories convention — nourishing the other love in his life: the care and feeding of a 1969 white-on-white Camero and a 1970 white-on-white Mustang.
He has one more special moment in mind, one he hopes to repeat regularly: spending time with his son, Ryan, at his son’s Jersey John’s Pizzeria in Cooper City.
“I spent my whole life giving to others and putting others first,” he said. “Now, I want to hang out at my son’s restaurant with my father.”