DIXFIELD – The single most important thing in Richard Pickett’s life is his relationship with God.
“He has given me everything I have – my wife, my children, my jobs,” the 55-year-old Dixfield police chief said as he sat in the tiny office of the Police Department last week.
“I look to God daily for guidance with situations and spend time praying when making decisions,” he said.
He is a deacon of the Cornerstone Baptist Church in North Jay, where he has been a member for 20 years.
Looking back, as a child growing up in Greenville, he may never have thought that he would be so involved in his church, he said. And neither would he have believed he would devote his life’s work to law enforcement.
After graduating from high school, he took a series of jobs in his hometown. But none of them seemed to be the perfect fit. Although he had attended church with his mother as he was growing up, the importance of faith didn’t really strike him until one night as he and his future wife, Debra, attended a missionary presentation at his Greenville church and an altar call came at the end.
“I first raised my hand in jest, but by the end of the evening I was standing at the podium and gave my life to God. I don’t know how I got there,” he said, remembering.
His job status was still in question. He was working as a skidder operator when he thought he might go into the ministry. He and Debra even drove to Glen Cove, Maine, where once there was a Bible college. That didn’t work out, but something else did – a need for Maine state troopers.
He was watching a Red Sox game on television when the ad appeared. He hollered to his wife and half-jokingly said he was going to be a state trooper.
As it turned out, one event after another prompted him to apply and be accepted to attend the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
“When one door closes, another opens,” he said.
It wasn’t easy, he said, because by now he and Debra had a 2-year-old son, and he was away for most of the 16-week course. But it is something he’s proud he followed.
“I hate to hear people say they want to do something, then not do it. I thought I would make a difference,” he said.
From 1976 to 1998, he did just that. He was assigned to patrol the roads of Peru; then, in 1983, he was promoted to detective. By that time, the River Valley area had become home, and he and his wife had two children.
When retirement rolled around, he felt he wasn’t ready to stop working. Only a few days after he retired in 1998, he began his duties as Dixfield’s police chief.
“I felt comfortable in law enforcement and wanted to make a difference in the community. It’s been a rewarding job. This is a wonderful community with a school system second to none,” he said, adding that he has no plans to retire from his position.
“I’ll continue to stay on as long as I can contribute and make a difference in peoples’ lives. As long as I have that feeling in my heart, that’s what I’ll do,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of times that I feel I have been an encouragement to people in day-to-day situations. I let them know that I care. There is good in everybody. It’s just that sometimes you have to look for it.”
His children, Christopher and Charity, and his seven grandchildren play a huge role in his life.
Bumper and Mimi, as he and his wife are known to their grandchildren, frequently drive to Alfred or North Waterboro to attend their activities, or have the youngsters visit their East Dixfield home.
“We feed the birds, work in the raspberry patch, ride the lawnmower,” he said.
And soon, his 4-year-old grandsons will join him and his son on their annual fishing trips to Greenville or Rangeley.
“God has given me everything,” he said.
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