Marion selectmen offered Dale Jones a heartfelt thanks upon news that he is ending his active duty on the Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services after 40 years of service.

"I am extremely proud to have been one of the founders and leaders of the original [Emergency Medical Technicians] group. Times have changed. Call departments do not have the ability to provide the level of care as does the current system," he said in official correspondence, dated March 21, to the selectmen and Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson.

Henry took some time to reminisce, recalling taking the EMS class provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts alongside Jones at the Bourne Armory many decades ago.

"It was a toss-up who would run the Marion EMT. I'm glad Dale did," said Henry, who stayed on active duty until 1983.

Jones commanded instant respect from complete strangers while he saved lives at all hours of the day, Henry said. Speaking personally, Henry said, "I would have been dead" if Jones had not shown up promptly when he was struck with meningitis. A few hours after Jones reached him, Henry was transported to Mass General Hospital, where he recovered over eight days, he said.

Of EMS work, Henry said, "there is no room for error, there requires a high degree of reliability all the time ... I'm very proud of him; I'll love him like a brother for the rest of my life for the good he did my family and the town."

Selectman Jody Dickerson, who has worked as an EMT and police officer, said he enjoyed working with Jones.

Stephen Cushing, select chair, added that he appreciated Jones' dedication to the committees he volunteered on.

"When he's on a committee, he's committed. He'll do whatever is needed, whenever it’s needed, to ensure a project is completed," Cushing said.

The praise comes on the heels not only of Jones’ retirement but also following a decision to pull out of a three-way Selectman race for the seat currently held by Henry.

“I just decided that it was probably better for the town to turn it into a two-man race,” said Jones. “Steve Gonsalves and I agree on a lot of the issues that I was interested in supporting.”

Gonsalves and Norm Hills are still in the running, and Jones said he hasn’t ruled out another bid for Selectmen in the future.

"I'm not a quitter," he said. "Rather than muddy the waters, I thought it was a better to pull out and support Steve."