Written by Ben Cox – When you ask Jimmy Trowbridge to tell you about himself, you will hear several times an apology for not being exciting. With a career in Emergency Services, a run for office, his time cooking for events like the Brownwood Reunion, and teaching safety procedures to the public, one begins to disagree with Mr. Trowbridge’s account of himself.
A true Texas man, his hand shake is firm and accompanied by that look in a man’s eye that gets put there by his father at a young age while learning the basics of being a gentleman.
Trowbridge was born and raised in Brownwood, leaving briefly for the allure of the big city of Houston for a two-year span. After realizing the big city was not for him, and hearing of his parents’ declining health, Trowbridge returned to the area and started his local career in emergency medical services.
An employee of “every service since Air Evac in the 90’s” until retiring two years ago, it is clear Trowbridge has a passion for helping others. Starting a service called Lift Assist, Trowbridge or other EMS workers would come to the home of someone who had fallen and couldn’t get up in order to help them return to bed or get back into their wheelchair. The service was provided at no cost to the individual.
“What can I offer?” is a question that Trowbridge asks several times while talking about his service to the people of this area. Another service Trowbridge provides is tied into helping Emergency Workers to cope with the things they experience while on the job.
He and Dave Fair worked on a Crisis Debriefing team to help whenever an Emergency Services Department had to deal with a tragedy like the on-the-job death of a colleague or incidents involving children. The Crisis Debriefing team worked to help emergency workers cope with the stresses of their job and be able to go home to their families.
Trowbridge has a saying he wrote for those workers to show that while they may try their hardest, the outcome of their jobs is not in their control.
“No matter how good I am or how sorry I perform, I don’t have the final say so in who lives and who dies. There’s only one person who determines that, and I ain’t He. I’m just a pawn on His chessboard.”
Trowbridge likes to say that a smile and a hug from a grateful patient or the appreciation of satisfied customers to his catering business are “worth more than any paycheck.”
Any time he talks about his passions, his smile tries to hide behind his bushy handlebar mustache, but it gets so big it becomes impossible to camouflage.
Reluctant to accept praise for his work, Trowbridge’s resume speaks for itself. The list of accolades includes: Brownwood Chamber of Commerce Ambassador of the year for 2016, Distinguished Emergency Medical Service Award from Howard Payne University, Emergency Medical Instructor at TSTC, Several certifications from the Texas Forrest Service, and graduate of the West Central Texas Council of Governments Law Enforcement Academy are but just a small handful of his more notable accomplishments.
Retired from Emergency Services two years ago, Trowbridge can usually be found these days in close proximity to his BBQ pit. He is either getting ready for a wedding catering job with his catering business T Double C Catering, or preparing dinner for his family. Trowbridge also fed the Brownwood Reunion volunteers for several years, without charging for their meals. He has two grown children and five grandchildren.
Jimmy Trowbridge’s passion for helping can be summed up in a single phrase, “The service to humanity is where it’s at.”
