Call answered: Jeff Stewart has spent a lifetime serving -- and it mattered

He didn't have to continue serving this community when his predecessor retired.

He had already proven his commitment to service when he volunteered to fight for his country as a member of the Army's elite Green Berets.

But when you talk to outgoing Goldsboro Police Chief Jeff Stewart about why he has carried a badge for some 28 years, you begin to understand that for this particular man, helping people is not a choice.

It's in his DNA.

He chose the military and law enforcement because being a public servant is who he is -- and who he has always been.

So when, after nearly three decades, Stewart hangs up his handcuffs and places his badge on a shelf one final time, he should do so knowing that what he accomplished in Goldsboro matters.

Being the city's top law enforcement officer is no easy task. Like any CEO, you are lauded for victories and chastised for defeats.

But at the end of the day, Stewart should be applauded for stepping up to the plate -- for serving the public when so many choose not to.

He didn't do it for the money or the title.

He didn't request a fancy car to drive on the job.

Jeff Stewart was, quite simply, answering a call -- responding to a sense of duty not everyone feels or acts on.

And that makes him a man worth missing -- a man we should approach with a hand extended as we wish him well on the next leg of his journey.

Published in Editorials on June 30, 2015 11:16 AM