After spending three decades in law enforcement, Rick Life is putting his organizational management skills to a new test: developing daily lists of personal tasks to accomplish without packing too many activities into each 24-hour period.
Life, who spent the last five years as a commander with the Estes Park Police Department, entered official retirement on Monday, May 4. The pace now, he said, “is obviously very different. I just try to create a schedule or goals of things I want to get done for the day,” Life said in an interview Thursday afternoon with the Estes Valley Voice before the weekly noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Estes Park.
The long list of job titles Life has had while with the local agency starts with police officer, then advances to master police officer, then detective, then patrol sergeant, then professional standards sergeant, then administrative lieutenant, before ending with interim support services commander and interim operations commander.
In fact, he is the only officer on the force who has overseen every division department from patrol operations, emergency management, tactical operations, investigations, evidence, records, the local emergency communications center, Restorative Justice, internal affairs, media briefs, training, special events, school resource officer, community service officers, auxiliary officers, reserve officers, chaplains, and even payroll.
He says he found all the roles gratifying.
“They were all very interesting, because, well, first of all, I’m a jack of all trades,” Life said. “I like to know a little bit about everything,” which made operations and communications highlights because those positions provided information about what happens on the street, along with dispatch and records.
Overseeing areas that included working with volunteers were among the things Life said he enjoyed most because, as he said, “I have a lot of experience with that.”
Those experiences have come through personal volunteerism in the life of Estes Park. He’s served on the board of the Front Range Law Enforcement Academy, Larimer County Human Services Child Protection Team, the Salvation Army, Estes Valley Restorative Justice, and Presbyterian Church of the Rockies.
Many residents know Life through his work creating and directing the Estes Park Marathon.
“There was an economic downturn, and I was trying to figure out how we could bring more people to Estes Park during a slower part of the year,” Life said.
Even though his only exposure to a marathon came from a friend who ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. he thought the concept had merit, so he took his idea to hold a race here to then-events department manager Linda Hinze, who backed the idea.
“I put the word out that anybody who’s interested in creating a marathon in Estes Park, please meet at the youth center.” Those who came agreed to take on all the various roles required to organize a race except race director. Life agreed to take on that role and proudly recalls that for the first five years of the race, “we had the highest rated marathon in the state of Colorado, which was a great honor for us.”
Life has also been instrumental in organizing the Rooftop Rodeo over the past 18 years, during which he has overseen arena production activities. And, after taking a hiatus from Rotary, where he was head of the international student exchange program more than 10 years ago, he’s again fully engaged and will become president-elect in July.
With rodeo and Rotary involvement high on the list of things to do, “I’m trying not to put too many things on my plate,” Life said. “I just try to create a schedule or goals of things I want to get done for the day.”
“I need to take some time and relax and enjoy life, and enjoy some time with my wife, Sandee” who is retiring from her elementary school teaching position at the end of the school year.
“We’re going to spend the summer basically cleaning out and fixing up our house and go down to Florida for some of it,” Life said of the immediate future. While in Florida, Life and his wife will be able to visit his mother at her home and spend time with their daughter, Lexie, who lives in Orlando.
“I love the community,” Life said, reflecting on Estes Park and his retirement. One of the things he loves is seeing “people taking pictures of things that we see almost every day. When I see people enjoying what we get to enjoy all year, it reminds me of how wonderful our community is and where we live,” he said. “And you know, I never want to take those things for granted.”
“Life is good,” the retired law enforcement officer said. “I’m at the age now where I can retire, and it’ll be great to spend more time with family, just doing some things that we want to do.”