Oak Bay Fire Chief Dave Cockle was recently recognized as Kiwanian of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Oak Bay.

While only a member for the past five years, Cockle is an integral part of the club, said president Leslie Johnston.

He is past president; on the board of directors for the Oak Bay Kiwanis Health Care Society; a board member with the Oak Bay Pavilion and Rose Manor and sits on the Oak Bay Kiwanis Pavilion Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Oak Bay Pavilion; he is the maintenance director of the Kiwanis Tea Room. He served 21 years as a board member of Santa’s Anonymous and is president of the BC Earthquake Alliance, a non-profit that organizes the Great British Columbia Shake Out.

“I didn’t expect this at all,” said Cockle. “There are so many people in the club who work so hard in the community. Who make an effort in other people’s lives every day. I don’t do this for an award, the award for me is being able to give and serve in my community.”

Cockle said he has always been the type to see a need and do the job.

“I’m very service oriented. That’s part of being a firefighter. Giving back to the community to make the community’s life better.”

“From the beginning of my involvement with Kiwanis Oak Bay, Dave has been a great inspiration to me and to many others who have come on board,” said Johnston. “He is always up for action and is a real go-getter. I don’t know that he even knows the words, ‘No I’m too busy.’ He’s on many of the committees of Kiwanis and he just does a fantastic job on all of them.”

Over the years he has also contributed by being a baseball, lacrosse and hockey coach. “Somewhere in there I got married and raised a child,” he said with a laugh, adding: “People ask my wife Darlene what she does and she says, ‘I manage his schedule.’”

Kidding aside, Cockle says the support of his friends and family is part of what makes volunteering in the community easy for him.

“It’s a great link between my work, my life and my private life – I make links in the community and I get a huge amount of support back.”