Class sister act retiring from service

Officers from the Monroe Police Department stood at attention as Sister Barbara Geib of St. Mary of the Valley Catholic Church was honored for her years of service to the Monroe community last week.

Geib was sworn in to the Monroe Police Department Chaplain program 33 years ago, and is now retiring after a long time serving as the city's domestic violence advocate. She will continue to serve as a Monroe Police and Fire Chaplain.

The chaplain program was implemented by interim Monroe Police Chief John Hovde in 1983 as a way to provide "appropriate and empatheticGÇ¥ service to Monroe residents in crisis.

Chaplains were tasked with providing aid to officers, particularly when it came to human services, crisis intervention and conflict management. The department didn't have a paging system to alert chaplains when the program started, so home telephones were used.-á

The chaplains were given official uniforms and asked to ride along with officers between four and eight hours a month. They worked on-call in 72-hour shifts that corresponded with the officers' shifts. The program has evolved over the years, and in 2008 was expanded to include the Monroe Fire Department.-á -á

Geib and Pastor Michael Hanford founded the Monroe Police Appreciation Lunch, which later included firefighters. Over the years, Geib has been deployed countless times to aid families after traumatic experiences.

Her work with domestic violence victims has been crucial, said Monroe Police Chief Tim Quenzer, who gave some background on what a domestic violence advocate does.

"They meet with the victim in a domestic violence situation and assure that they are going to be safe, and then they assist them through the court process,GÇ¥ Quenzer said.

A domestic violence advocate might help a victim locate safe housing or other services, Quenzer said, but most of all they provide strength and support, so the victim can feel empowered enough to leave the situation they're in. -á -á

"Sometimes it's not a very safe type of environment to be in, but it is something that is really needed in our community,GÇ¥ Quenzer said. "As many of you know, domestic violence in our city and every city and county in the state of Washington seems to be a scourge on our society.GÇ¥

Geib was presented with an award, a gift from the MPD, a chief's coin, flowers from Hanford and a certificate of appreciation from Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas.-á

"On behalf of a grateful community, I thank you for your years of service,GÇ¥ Thomas said.

Geib said being in Monroe is a gift.

"I have to give credit to God up there, because he put me here in Monroe,GÇ¥ Geib said.

Geib said she still remembers finding it odd that while driving down S.R. 522 on her way to Monroe so many years ago, there weren't any other cars. Once she arrived in Monroe, she wondered where everybody was. Geib was one of five chaplains sworn in to the program in 1983, and the only woman. Over the years, she has grown to love the officers and firefighters she serves and serves with.

"I pray for these people every day, because it's a hard job,GÇ¥ Geib said. "To me it's a ministry because they're serving, and people don't appreciate that. I mean, they're all people, but they're doing a special service for each one of us. If we didn't have them, we'd be in trouble.GÇ¥

The Monroe Police Department has entered into a consultant agreement with Deborah Hyman of Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County for its domestic violence victims advocacy services.-á