FARMINGTON — S. Clyde Ross rolled his worn, brown office chair to the table and pulled his appointment book out of his pocket.

He had plucked the chair from a discarded pile to use as his own in the training room of the Farmington Fire Rescue Department. He is one of two deputy fire chiefs. He worked his way up from a rookie firefighter in 1971 to his current status over 40 years.

Ross talked on his cellphone Wednesday and read off numerous appointments for the next day to the caller.

In the end, he told the person he would see what he could do to make room for another appointment.

“I try to balance days with commitments to my family, the Fire Department and my personal life,” he said.

Ross, 74, of Farmington is a retired school teacher after 37 years on the job. He taught first at Leavitt Institute and then at Leavitt Area High School in Turner for 14 years. He served as assistant principal there for a stint before moving on to teach in his hometown at Mt. Blue Junior High School in September 1973 and then Mt. Blue High School, in Farmington. He retired in June 1996.

Ross, however, is far from officially retired. Though most of his jobs these days are either volunteer or stipend work.

Ross, born in Mexico, keeps a busy schedule.

His storied career has taken him around the world and landed him on national television in a segment of “On the Road with Charles Kuralt” years ago, and in “Parade,” a nationwide Sunday magazine within the last two months.

Both times he was featured as his alter ego, Chester Greenwood, Farmington’s famous inventor of earmuffs, who he portrays in December each year in the Chester Greenwood Parade.

In one way or another, Ross has touched many lives along his way: from bringing his travel photos into the classroom for students to see to teaching fire safety to senior citizens.

He also dedicates time as an elder member of the Fairbanks Union Church and is a member of the choir.

Plus, he is public information officer for the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency and does public service announcements over WKTJ radio.

His list of organizations he belongs to is long and includes being a life member of Kora Temple Shrine in Lewiston and a 50-plus-year member of the Masons.

He’s never actually sat down to figure out how much of his life he spends helping others.

“It’s a habit and routine to just be available and do these things,” Ross said. “When the need arises you do what you can do. You cannot do things in the community and be compensated for everything. You just do it because it has to be done.”

The volunteerism instilled in him early by parents and grandparents, is a family thing, he said.

Ross and his younger brother by two years, Fred Ross, who is a firefighter in Harrison, grew up basically chasing firetrucks.

It is not all work, he said.

“I find the time to fish. I find the time to travel. I find time to do computer work,” Clyde Ross said. “I find time for my gardens, woodlot and lawns, just because they are part of the routine. It is a continuum of being busy. I’m busy now because of my personal schedule.”

dperry@sunjournal.com