Being a fire fighter is all Earl Goddard has ever known.

His career and lifestyle revolved around it.

“He’s been one of the best,” said Allyn Reding, Duenweg fire chief. “He never backs down, and he will never let you down.”

Around these districts, Goddard can be considered a fire-fighting legend.

“My life dream was to be a firefighter,” Goddard said. “It just came to me.”

Goddard spent about 40 years of his life dedicated to the profession. The profession is all he knows. His friends are firefighters. He dreams about fighting fires.

“I started riding fire trucks when I was about 16 years old,” Goddard said.

Goddard, a junior paralegal major, spent several years as a volunteer firefighter with Duenweg. It was a small firehouse, but the people there made the stressful environment friendly. Goddard wanted to work for the Joplin Fire Department, but at that time, only Joplin residents could work for the department.

“You couldn’t get hired in Joplin,” he said.

In 1974, government regulations were issued for area fire departments. At the time, Joplin had two swing shifts. This new government policy required the JFD to issue a third shift. This opened the door for Goddard, and he went to work. His supervisors were top-notch. The atmosphere was everything he wanted.

“I was amazed at the equipment,” he said.

For several years, Goddard worked in several areas of the department. His persistence and loyalty paid off. He became the department’s youngest district chief, and eventually became the department’s first fire marshal.

In 2004, however, that lifestyle is all gone. At 61 years old, he’s no longer fighting home fires. Toward the latter part of his career, he became a fire inspector.

He’s not doing that anymore, either. He’s gone back to school.

“One of my loves has always been law,” Goddard said. “I just never had the opportunity to do it.”

Since retiring from the fire department in 1995, Goddard worked briefly in the production department at Eagle Picher in Seneca. The plant closed in 2001.

“Because our jobs were lost, we all qualified for federal money,” he said. “Since I had the money available, I thought I would go back to school.”

Being inside the classroom with students who are young enough to be his grandchildren, Goddard said it’s taken time and patience to adjust to the new surroundings.

Some subjects have been more challenging then others.

It has been 42 years since he’s been in a classroom.

“The sciences and math have been the hardest part,” he said. “My memory doesn’t always hold.”

Dr. Laura Atkins, instructor of mathematics, has Goddard in her Math 030 course.

“I greatly admire him,” Atkins said. “I know it’s been a victory for him coming back.”

Atkins said non-traditional students, such as Goddard, often have more challenges than average college-age students.

“In general, most of them need more self confidence,” Atkins said.

She said once non-traditional students become comfortable and attain the skills necessary for college, then those students will succeed.

“Once they get the basic operations, they will do better,” she said. “They understand the value of an education.”

If all goes well, Goddard plans to work in a law office in town. If that doesn’t work out, he will use his degree to substitute at an elementary school.

“It’s a good feeling that God’s given me this opportunity,” he said. “It’s a second youth – there really is life after 60.”