Addressing council members and city officials, Parr said he is grateful for the last 17 years he has spent in Tomball and thanked his wife and daughters in particular for their support.
“I’m retiring,” Parr said.
Parr said leading the department’s transition from a volunteer to a career fire department is one of the noteworthy moments from his time in Tomball.
"Seventeen years ago this coming Monday, March 8, your predecessors gave me the privilege of leading the Tomball Fire Department," he said to council members. "Seventeen years is a long time, and I'm still having a hard time grasping the fact that it has been 17 years."
City Manager Rob Hauck said during a March 2 meeting of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce's Government & Legislative Affairs Committee that Parr led the department through its transition from being fully composed of volunteers to being composed of about 30 full-time employees and 16 part-time employees. Hauck said Parr will likely continue serving with the department into April as the city begins the process of finding a new chief.
“Randy, I guarantee you probably already know it, but you will be missed,” Mayor Gretchen Fagan said during the March 1 meeting.
