CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Thirteen Corpus Christi police officers were honored today for their dedicated service as they retired from the force.
A ceremony was held at CCPD's Training Academy on Yorktown to recognize their contributions to law enforcement.
Among those retiring was Assistant Chief Mark Schauer, who dedicated more than 40 years to law enforcement after first joining CCPD in 1982.
Schauer expressed gratitude to the community that gave him an opportunity when he needed it most.
"This was, uh, a truly a blessed community for me when I came here. I was homeless when I got this job when I interviewed for the police department when they told me I was hired, I was homeless living out of my truck. I was living in a tent. So, uh, I, I really, we have a great community," Schauer said.
The Assistant Chief emphasized the importance of serving the community, particularly its youngest members.
"This is a community that I think we take for granted. We take for granted the beautiful view of the ocean and everything, but the best part of my career really has been serving kids, and I tried any chance I could to get back to serve children, whether it's serving on school things, museums, display boards, or making speeches. We have to take care of our kids so to get into that this kind of work, you can make a difference. You absolutely can 1 person at a time. It's very doable, it's a great career," Schauer said.
When asked about his retirement plans, Schauer shared that he intends to remain physically and professionally active.
"I ran a marathon on Sunday in Oklahoma City, so I might still do that, but I've been an adjunct professor at the university at A&M for quite a while and I'm teaching there. But beyond that, I want to enjoy life and enjoy my kids and do some traveling and keep in good shape," Schauer said.
Schauer made it clear that Corpus Christi will remain his home, citing the city's natural beauty as one of its greatest assets.
"This is my home. I would never go back to Chicago and I mean, I'm 15 minutes from the beach to go sit on the beach and I'm 15 minutes from a beautiful view that's just as good as any view in the country on the on the Corpus Christi Bay or on the, the Gulf of Mexico. We take it for granted, but every chance I got to go to work every day I'd go up and down Ocean Drive, and I never once got tired of it, not after 43 years of going to work, never got tired of the view, and I still run it. I run it probably 2 to 3 times in the morning, every week," Schauer said.
Despite looking forward to retirement, Schauer acknowledged there are aspects of his career he already misses.
"Yeah, and I missed it the day I left, but I miss the folks I work with, who are sworn and non-sworn personnel, because I worked with them for so long. I miss the camaraderie and seeing them all the time and them listening to some really bad jokes, so I do miss that, and I miss the interaction with the public. We have a great number of people in in my career, you know, I saw a lot of bad things, but the good things much outweigh the bad. It's just the bad gets the publicity, so we have a really good community," Schauer said.
CCPD will be honoring the following employees:
Mark Schauer, Assistant Chief
Denny Asbury, Captain
Lee Preiss, Lieutenant
Gilberto Casas, Senior Officer
Stephen Cox, Senior Officer
Loraine Mathews, Senior Officer
Douglas May, Senior Officer
Ofilia Castillo, Communications Clerk
Anna M. Leal, Administrative Support III
Nelda Nunez, Administrative Support III
John Prebul, Crime Scene Investigator
Virginia Rowley, Administrative Support III
Larry Serrata, Dispatch Supervisor
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