The 'driving force' behind city's snowplow operations retires after 42 years

NO MO SNOW: Marc St. Pierre with a handmade plaque honoring his recent retirement from Rochester DPW (cOURTESY PHOTO)

ROCHESTER - After plowing millions of miles on city streets during thousands of winter storms Marc St. Pierre has decided to take a well-deserved break.

St. Pierre, who has worked for the city for 42 years, started his career at Public Works on Dec. 12, 1983. According to his coworkers, he started as just an employee, but over the years became an institution.

Throughout his career, he worked the front line of the highway department, laboring in scorching heat, pouring rain and driving snow.

St. Pierre operated one of the city's major plow routes for much of the winter, working more than 2,000 storms, including a historic 60-hour, nonstop plowing operation.

His dedication to his work and upkeep of plow trucks was not lost on Director of City Services Peter Nourse.

"Marc is known for taking great care of his equipment--trucks, excavators, and anything he was assigned to," he said. "He became an expert operator and a great mentor to new employees."

Nourse noted that St Pierre's hours behind the wheel number in the thousands, and his plow miles "perhaps in the millions," all in service of keeping Rochester's roads safe.

"Marc has an extensive knowledge base of our infrastructure, and he's been a consistent, long-running positive force in the workplace," he said. "He's a true teammate with a steadfast dedication to the citizens of Rochester."

City Manager Katie Ambrose also offered her congratulations, saying, "We gratefully acknowledge Marc's decades of hard work and steadfast dedication to the City of Rochester. We wish him well in his retirement."