Ambulance Honors Naumann with Building Name

WAITSBURG – Several local companies worked together to improve the driveway and move the flagpole outside the Waitsburg Ambulance Service last month. The chores will help beautify the lot for the future dedication of the building to longtime Waitsburg Ambulance Service Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) and Chief of Operations Richard Naumann, who died in April.

Naumann, who passed away following a four-year battle with cancer on April 10, requested that his family not hold a service or place an obituary after his death. That request was honored, but the Waitsburg Ambulance Service Board felt it was fitting to pay tribute to the dedicated employee who had provided emergency medical care so faithfully in Walla Walla and Columbia counties for the last 20 years.

“The board really wanted to do something and couldn’t think of anything better, because he spent so much time there (at the ambulance service office) and did so much for us and did so much for the community,” said board president Jack Otterson. “He was there all the time. We’re definitely going to miss him, that’s for sure.”

According to fellow AEMT Sharon Brooks, Naumann had a true passion for EMS work which traced back to Vietnam, where he cross-trained as an army Medic/Med-Evac Crew Chief/Corpsman/Combat Medic in 1968.

When he returned stateside, he attended the University of Georgia where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree. “From the stories I heard, he was part of the beginning of EMS in Georgia,” said Brooks.

In 1971, Naumann returned to his home state of California where he worked in cancer wards. He then went on to earn his Surgical Technologist, Licensed Practical Nurse, First Responder, Emergency Medical Technician, Senior Emergency Instructor and Advanced Emergency Medical Technician certifications.

After moving to Waitsburg, he worked full time at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center and spent 20 years providing and teaching emergency medical care in the Touchet Valley.

“He loved to teach and loved when the light came on in his students’ eyes,” said Brooks. “He probably instructed hundreds of students through the classes he taught at WWCC.”

“Before he passed away, we told him that the building would be named after him. He was definitely surprised and very, very pleased,” said board member Nancy Otterson.