ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or the other 364 days out of the year, you could say there’s burning love in the Holly Hills neighborhood.
From kindergarten to high school, college, then kids and now grandkids, St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson and his wife Michelle were destined to be together.
“Kind of faded in and out in middle grade school but back in high school, that’s kind of where we started a forced relationship. She asked me out first,” the chief said.
They have pictures to prove it from the Bishop DuBourg school dance. Call it the first date.
“I asked him out to the Sadie Hawkins dance, which he probably thinks I should’ve said no,” Michelle said.
The duo dated through high school. Michelle stayed in the metro for nursing school, but Dennis attended Southern Missouri University in Joplin. They stayed in contact by writing letters, which they still have today.
“I wrote tons of letters,” Michelle said. “I got to burn them before I die.”
Michelle said she saved them so she could go back and read them.
“Have a safe ride home; don’t speed; call me as soon as you get home,” Michelle read from one of the letters.
Dennis and Michelle tied the knot 44 years ago, in October 1979, four months after Dennis joined the St. Louis Fire Department.
“We both went into it very young, and the odds were probably against us and I think that was partially part of our fight—that we are going to make this work no matter what happens,” Michelle said.
Dennis said they were committed to making it work.
“We kind of clicked. We might be a plus and a minus. Opposites, if you will. Opposites attract,” Dennis said.
He worked 24-hour shifts at the fire department while continuing his education. Michelle worked as a nurse, assigned to the hospital’s helicopter crew.
The two made it work while also raising two girls and a boy. The Jenkerson’s were determined to have family dinners and spend every possible moment together, even hundreds of feet from the air.
“The helicopter was a fairly large helicopter, and it made a lot of noise. So, as it came over, it kind of slowed down a little bit and the kids were looking up and mom was on board and you saw a hand come out the window and wave to the kids and off she went,” Dennis recalled.
Michelle would become to the Associate Director of Clinical Research at Washington University and Dennis would be appointed Chief of the St. Louis Fire Department in November 2007.
“My career is a result of how much she’s helped me get to where I am at and how she blends in with the people,” the chief said. “She’s the other half of my team, if you will.”
A team, no doubt. From memory-making to sweat-scraping with eight-mile walks each night. They also lift weights in the morning.
“I think since we grew up together doing a lot of things together, we just continued to do it,” Michelle said.
So, what’s their secret?
“Some of the secret is talking to each other; listening to each other; which we do a lot of. I do a lot of listening,” the chief said.
A fairy tale story with spark that even keeps the chief on his toes.
“She’s considered the real chief,” Dennis said. Michelle then agreed.
Both are committed to keeping this burning love story going.
“Tomorrow is not always promised. You just want to get to tomorrow. We have our arguments. We have our disagreements; we get through tomorrow and we keep moving. And hopefully there’s a lot of tomorrows left,” the chief said.
The chief and his wife have six grandkids now.