Updated 06/30/2012 11:22 AM
Austin Fire Department gains an experienced volunteer
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The Austin Fire Department welcomed the newest volunteer to its ranks in a special ceremony Friday.
Catherine Zayic first started fighting fires in Fairview Illinois with her sister in the 1930s, when they were teenagers. On Friday, Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr made her an honorary member of the Austin Fire Department in celebration of Zayic’s 100th birthday.
“She was a volunteer firefighter back in the 1930s, so how could you not come and congratulate and share that with her?" Chief Kerr said.
When she's not fighting fires, Zayic spends her time volunteering at Parsons House in Northeast Austin, where she lives.
Her original fire fighting partner, her 97-year-old sister Ernesta, lives in an assisted living facility nearby.