Years of service as a commissionaire and a soldier has earned Prince George's Bob Stephenson a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
B.C. Lieutenant Governor Steven Point presented Stephenson with the medal during a ceremony in Kelowna earlier this month.
"It's an honour," Stephenson said. "I was really surprised when I got it.
"There were 80 medals awarded to the commissionaires and four were awarded in B.C., so that's quite an honour to get it."
The Commissionaires is a non-profit organization consisting of Canadian Forces and RCMP veterans who provide security-related services.
Stephenson, 73, is perhaps best known for working the front desk at the North District RCMP detachment, a posting he's held for 11 of the 24 years he's been a commissionaire.
Prior to retiring in 1988 as a warrant officer, he had served in the military for 33 years, the final four stationed at Baldy Hughes.
Add on his time as a commissionaire since then and it adds up to 57 continuous years in uniform - one day he was in the Canadian Forces and the next he was a commissionaire. And Stephenson doesn't plan on quitting anytime soon.
"When you get old enough to retire and you don't want to retire, you have to continue doing something you like and I like doing this," Stephenson said. "And if I retired, I'd probably sit around and put on weight and I don't like to do that."
Stephenson, who is also the North Interior representative for Commissionaires B.C., said dealing with the public are the best aspects of his current occupation. Being the greeter at North District RCMP means he meets all kinds.
"Sometimes it's difficult because a lot of the public come in with an attitude and they don't want to calm down and tell the person on the front what's going on, so you basically have to listen to them rant until they're finished and find out what the big problem is," he said. "It's sort of a conflict resolution situation."
The medal was created to mark the 2012 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the Throne. During the year of celebrations, 60,000 Canadians will be recognized with the medal for their contributions.
