They call them the A-team, Irene and Steve Ager, two Sam Francisco paramedics who met while on the job thirty years ago. Steve asked Irene out in 1981 and they were married two years later. After 26 years of working together in the same ambulance, they’re retiring, reports the Chron’s Carl Nolte.
Steve retired voluntarily, while Irene has been on disability due to a shoulder injury from carrying a heavy patient. She’s officially leaving her job on June 25.
The couple’s courtship began when Steve asked Irene out while on the job. Before that, both had mutual friends growing up but had never met each other.
As their relationship began to blossom, they’d leave notes for each other while working separate shifts. Soon they started working weekends together.
Reading Nolte’s story, you see a career of highs (“It was fun and exciting,” Irene tells Nolte) and lows (there were called to the scene of a cop on cop shooting, and the victim was Irene’s brother).
Ultimately, though, their personal and professional lives appear to have have yielded an ideal relationship. Says Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White on the couple, “It is the ultimate partnership.”
Steve agrees, telling Nolte “we complement each other. Her strengths are my weaknesses.” Adds Irene, “For some reason, it works. Sometimes, I think he’s my lost twin.”
The 52-year-olds now look forward to a life of retirement in San Rafael.
Want more news, sent to your inbox every day? Then how about subscribing to our email newsletter? Here’s why we think you should. Come on, give it a try.
