The Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce has selected Tom Pitzinger for the 2023 Unsung Hero Award.
“The award was very much a surprise and humbling for sure,” Pitzinger said. “It’s out of the blue and I had no idea it was coming.”
Pitzinger has been a volunteer with the Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years, this June. He has been serving as Assistant Fire Chief for five years and he served as captain for eight years prior. He’s also been head of transportation and grounds director at the Hamilton School District for 10 years.
A year ago, on Memorial Day, Pitzinger was diagnosed with large B-Cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer. He had a six-inch tumor removed from his chest, followed by chemotherapy which concluded in September. In December he was declared in remission by his doctor and on May 5 was still “cancer free.”