Retired paramedic Mike Ritcey runs the Search, Recovery and Detection K9s of BC centre in Kamloops and is pictured with his search dog Ranger.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops resident Mike Ritcey was one of numerous exemplary citizens in Kamloops awarded with the King Charles III Coronation medal in recent months.

Ritcey was presented with the medal at a ceremony on Jan. 21 by local MP Frank Caputo for a lifetime of working for the local ambulance service and the volunteer work he has done operating a dog training centre to search for missing people. 

“I’m humbled to receive the award and I have to acknowledge all of the other volunteers involved who spend time out there searching for missing loved ones, we have a group of good, passionate people here,” he said.

Now retired, Ritcey worked as a paramedic for the BC Ambulance Service for 30 years, even winning a paramedic of the year award in 2002.

His Search, Recovery and Detection K9s of BC centre is located on Kamloops’ North Shore and opened last year. The focus is on solving missing persons cases that have gone cold, using highly-trained cadaver dogs.

“This is where my passion is,” he said. “It’s about finding answers for families, I wouldn’t use the word closure because I don’t think there is closure with this kind of stuff.”

Working alongside Ritcey is Randy MacLeod, a semi retired critical care flight paramedic with four decades of experience locating and medically attending to people in the backcountry.

“It’s totally awesome and so well deserved,” MacLeod said of Ritcey’s award. “It should be mentioned he earned it without acknowledgement for his 50 years of volunteer service with search and rescue.” 

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Ritcey’s volunteer work with Kamloops Search and Rescue was prompted by an incident in the early 1970s.

“The first search I went on was in Wells Gray Park where I was staying at my grandparents’ place,” he said. “A hunter had gone missing and the park supervisor came down and asked if I’d go with him. We went out in the middle of the night in the winter.

“We found that guy, it’s a feeling I can’t describe and I thought it’s something worthwhile.”

In the past year, he's stepped back from search and rescue and is focussing on his work operating the dog training centre. 

Both Ritcey and MacLeod have logged countless hours searching the backcountry for missing people including Shannon White and Ryan Shtuka in Kamloops, Miguel Mack and Ben Tyne in Merritt.

“Hope is the last thing that’s lost and I think you can’t take hope away from somebody,” Ritcey said. “It must be a sickening feeling for families to know that there is nobody out looking for their loved one. I get upset when I think what that would be like.

“This is my passion, somebody has to keep looking.”

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A father of three, Ritcey has no regrets about the immeasurable hours he has spent working as a volunteer across the decades.

“Volunteering is important because the more you give, the more get back, it’s simple,” Ritcey said. “I still get emotional when I talk to the parents of missing children. I think I have at least 15 more years to give.” 

The Coronation Medal was created to mark the coronation of His Majesty King Charles lll on May 6 of last year, and honours Canadians who made a significant contribution to the country.

Anyone interested in finding out more about volunteer opportunities at Ritcey’s training centre can contact him here.

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