Benefield: Glass ceiling-breaking former Bodega fire chief Annie Murphy Springer remembered

Ask friends about Annie Murphy Springer and they describe her in myriad ways.

Painter. Trail blazing fire chief. Community organizer. Corporate manager. World traveler. And a fun-loving, straight-talking confidant who could swear a blue streak.

But for longtime friend and mentee Sean Grinnell, Springer’s legacy was set when she became fire chief in the town of Bodega in 1979 — reportedly one of just three female chiefs in the nation at that point.

“That is fire service history,” said Grinnell, now district chief with the Sonoma County Fire District.

“It was very hard-earned considering the time frame, and women as chief officers were few and far between, and women in the fire service was only marginally better than that,” he said. “She needs to be remembered for doing just that.”

Springer died March 10 of leukemia at her home in the hills above her beloved Bodega. She was 87.

Springer was born April 13, 1935, in Boston to Mary and William Murphy.

After graduating from college, she worked in Germany for the U.S. Army, before leaving in 1962 and eventually landing in Oakland, where she led education and training programs.

She worked for the Ford Foundation and later for the national war on poverty programs established under President Lyndon Johnson.

It was while living in Oakland that she met her husband, David Springer, who died in 2005.

The pair moved north to Sonoma County where they built a home in the hills above Bodega.

The home was not yet completed when the Creighton Ridge Fire erupted northwest of Cazadero in 1978. It burned 11,000 acres.

That scare prompted Springer to visit the local fire department in Bodega whereupon she found the department had one truck, no gear and no hand tools.

So she joined the fire board.

In 1979 she was elected chief.

“She was just one of those women who broke glass ceilings,” longtime friend Scott Barrow said. “She was this large woman, with blond hair, who just took off and got people involved.”

She launched fundraisers including the Big Event and the Gong Show. She rallied support for the department.

And she brought a business and managerial acumen that many departments beyond Bodega sought out.

Grinnell, when he became chief of the Bodega Bay Fire Department, was one of those leaders who sought Springer’s managerial guidance.

“I was a brand new chief,” he said. “I wanted to bring Annie Murphy Springer in here and work on position descriptions, supervisor evaluations. “’

She delivered.

“It captured all of the thoughts and ideas we had,” he said. “Realistically, it put everybody in their lane.”

Word spread of her abilities and she was routinely summoned all over the nation to help departments get organized.

Her list of corporate clients was extensive — her expertise was sought by everyone from banks to city governments.

She had a forthright way of speaking that could be off-putting for some, friends said, but it was endearing and appreciated by still more.

“She spoke honestly as she saw things,” Barrow said. “I think people who didn’t even like her respected her.”

Grinnell described her as “blunt. Telling you how it was, exactly how you needed to hear it.”

Longtime neighbor and friend Andrea Granahan said Springer never pulled punches even with her closest friends.

“We all loved her dearly but we were all afraid of her getting angry with us,” she said with a chuckle. “She’d call a spade a f***ing shovel.”

But unlike many, she’d make amends when she was wrong.

“She was always willing to admit mistakes,” Granahan said.

Granahan lived “next door” to Springer, which means a quarter-mile away.

But the neighbors were all tight and threw regular, themed and sometimes outrageous parties.

Each year they would elect from their number one person who would direct the party calendar.

“Their role was to decide when the parties would be and inform the rest of us,” she said. “And they had to preside over any ceremony that would come up like a kid’s graduation or birthdays.”

And presiding usually entailed holding a conch shell and wearing a form of costume that include a fur hat with horns.

Her vivacious spirit and penchant for blunt talk made Springer what longtime friend and Kenwood Fire Department volunteer Richard Gulson called “a unique personality.”

“Her expertise was basically human behavior,” he said. “That was her theme in life.”

Gulson worked for years with Springer in critical incident stress management, which sent them into arenas where first responders had dealt with sometimes horrific trauma.

“Annie had the ability to size up the situation,” he said. “And that is a key thing if you are going to be a fire officer, you have to evaluate the situation and take action. Time is a wastin’.”

Springer retired as chief of the Bodega department in 1986 but continued to consult for decades.

She also remained active in awareness raising and fundraising projects, including continued support for the Big Event.

She was a regular performer and contributor to “Sonoma County’s Got Talent” variety show that raised funds for Occidental Center for the Arts.

As recently as last November, Springer and Diane Masura joined to create a comedy sketch for the event.

An avid watercolor painter, Springer created “Wonders of Watercolors” segments for local PBS stations.

She also offered painting classes and displayed and sold her pieces locally.

A memorial is planned for this summer.

Donations in Springer’s name may be made to the Bodega Fire Department, P.O. Box 28, Bodega, CA. 94922.

You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @benefield.