ROCKLAND, Maine — David Kalloch has served the city over the past 30 years, dealing with issues big and small as a code enforcement officer.
Kalloch, 65, will be retiring next week as he faces his greatest challenge — a diagnosis of ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
But he is responding to his diagnosis with the same upbeat attitude he had brought to his service to the community.
“I don’t worry about things I can’t control,” Kalloch said Friday in his office at City Hall.
He said he wants to retire now so he and his wife, Debbie, can spend what time he has to travel. The first trip they have planned is to fly out West to see the Grand Canyon and other landmark sites.
“I want to get that off my bucket list,” he said.
ALS is a degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. As nerve cells die, the brain’s ability to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. The cause of the disorder is unknown. About 5,600 Americans are diagnosed every year.
Kalloch said he first noticed symptoms in the spring, when he and his wife went on a cruise to the Caribbean. He said he couldn’t stretch his legs properly when they were walking. He said he was not able to walk as fast as normal.
The official diagnosis was given to him the day before Labor Day weekend by a neurologist at Pen Bay Medical Center. The disease has progressed to the point where he can’t stand on his toes and he needs the assistance of a cane to walk.
But Kalloch said he is not dwelling on his illness and will look for the bright side of life, using an analogy of enjoying seeing a pretty flower in a field of weeds.
He said the most difficult part of learning he has ALS was having to tell his 90-year-old mother.
Kalloch began work for Rockland in 1985, when he was hired as an assistant code officer to Valmore Blastow. Blastow left a year later, and Kalloch was promoted to chief code officer. Blastow later went on to be Thomaston’s town manager, a position he has held for 24 years.
In 1999, Kalloch left the code post to become the solid waste director for Rockland. He held that job for three years until he left to become clerk of the works for construction of the Cushing School. He later worked at the EBS building supply store in Rockland.
He returned to the city employ in 2006 as assistant code officer under John Root, who had been the assistant when Kalloch went to the solid waste post. Kalloch said he could not be happier to work under Root, saying he is skilled and devoted to the job.
Root said he and Kalloch have been a team where they seek each other’s advice on code matters.
“He will be very, very difficult to replace with his experience and knowledge of Rockland,” Root said.
“But he has also been a friend for all these years. We were all shocked and saddened here at City Hall when we learned the news,” Root said.
Kalloch’s final day on the job will be Friday, Oct. 2.