Disabled and Retired  

Welcome to the Illinois Association of Retired Firefighters

 

In 1982, The Illinois Association of Retired Firefighters was formed to assist retired and/or disabled firefighters to continue being an integral part of their community. The IARF allows the retiree to maintain contact with friends and co-workers, continue to be informed about problems of retirees, and keeping up to date with solutions to financial problems faced by Firefighters. IARF currently has 26 local Clubs chartered throughout Illinois, in cities like Rockford, Joliet, Peoria, Bloomington, Decatur, Quad Cities, Springfield, and Belleville. Each local club continues to work with and support area AFFI Locals, and we continue to be members of the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois.

The local clubs plan activities such as visiting elderly members, and staying engaged in the community. They encourage the disabled and/or retired firefighters to visit any brother or sister who is hospitalized or is home bound, and to participate in Silent Watch duties for any members who pass.

The Illinois Association of Retired Firefighters began publishing a bi-annual magazine, Disabled and Retired Firefighters, as a way of informing retirees about other clubs activities in their communities including charity work, public education, visiting the sick and infirmed, and political activities.

Local Clubs have engaged in such activities as; working with the AFFI Local to build a home ramp for disabled MDA spokesperson. IARF have donated to a retiree whose wife had a stroke, and donating to Operation Santa, an organization that sends Christmas stockings to deployed heroes. Our current focus is to encourage our retiree clubs to join with the active fire fighters in their community service activities, such as their “Fill the Boot” Drive for MDA, “Shop with a Fireman” for underprivileged children during the Christmas season, visiting hospital bound children at Christmas, placing flags on graves of brothers who have passed and many other charitable activities. This alliance between the active Fire Fighters and the retirees will be our focus moving forward. Our members have served their communities during their entire careers. They are continuing this effort into retirement. We need your help to continue these efforts, to help IARF protect our retired heroes and support our charities. Any sponsorships and/or donations will be greatly appreciated.

Follow us on Facebook. Thank you in advance for your generous support of our retired firefighters.

 

Friends of IARF Winners

Quarterly meeting October 2024
$500 Winner Carol Plett, Summerfield FL.
$250 Winner Terry Mangun, Joliet
$100 Winner Dennis Fischbach, Montello Wi.
 
$25 winners
NIRFF (Northern Illinois retired Firefighters)
Rockford Dave Eichholzer Bellevlle
Dave Rygh, Belleville
Josh Banks, Springfield
Josh Carter, Dunlop
Dennis Ahrens, Crystal Lake

Quarterly Meeting Bloomington January 2025
$500 Winner Scott Lanxon Belleville
$250 Winner Frank Schmitt Rockford
$100 Winner Rich Hanks Sycamore

$25 winners
Terry Holden Joliet
Rich Marose Joliet
Tim Capua Lisle Woodridge
Mike Lanxon Belleville
Mark Sanders IAFF 8th District VP
J.P. Murphy Joliet

 

Chaplain's Corner

This is the blog address to our Chaplain Brother Ed: https://brotheredministries.blogspot.com/

The JFPSG proudly serves the active members, retirees, and families if the City of Joliet Fire Department in Joliet, Illinois. Thank you JFD for your support and good work. https://jfdpeersupport.com

 

What IARF Does For You

The IARF was formed in 1982 by retirees with a mission - "Our Mission" is to help and seek ways for the betterment and well-being of Illinois Retired Firefighters and widows/widowers.

1. IARF Magazine: This is our communication link to you twice a year. We are very proud of our magazine.
2. Dues are only $25.00 per year, per member. Your dues allow us to keep you informed and work with Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois to protect your pensions.
3. We are registered in Illinois as a "Non-Profit Organization" with an elected Executive Board and ruled by our Members through a Constitution and By-Laws.
4. We are proud Members of the AFFI. We send delegates to the AFFI Legislative Conference and Bi-Annual AFFI State Conventions. We pay per capita dues to the AFFI. We have a voice and a very good relationship.
5. IARF Quarterly Meetings are conducted around the State of Illinois for the convenience of our Members.
6. The July Quarterly Meeting is always held in Peoria along with the Annual Picnic. It is free for you and your spouse or guest. A meal, drinks, and door prizes after the Quarterly Meetings.
7. Quarterly Minutes are sent out to each Retiree Club Secretary, along with any other information after each Quarterly Meeting is held.
8. We lobby in Springfield legislatively right along with the AFFI.

 

Firefighters Pension Investment Fund

Firefighters Pension Investment Fund (“FPIF”) Click HERE for the website for more information.
 
FPIF will now publish recorded investment updates on its website following the end of each quarter. Marquette Associates, who serves as FPIF's general investment consultant, has recorded an investment update for the 4th quarter of 2023. The update and the December Investment Performance Report can be found under the Investments heading on the FPIF website (link).

Greg Knoll, IFPIF Beneficiary Trustee It was a pleasure to see familiar faces on-line at the April meeting and in person at the picnic meeting in Dunlap. For those of you who made time to attend a meeting, this article may contain information you have already heard.

The IFPIF accounting fiscal year ends on June 30. The 2023-2024 fiscal year preliminary performance report shows a 13.0% rate of return. Another good performance year thanks to the staff, advisors, and investment managers at the fund. The figures shown below are net of all investment fees. Click HERE for more on this article.

 

Message From AFFI President

The AFFI continues to thrive on all fronts. As many of you know, we conducted our biennial AFFI Convention this June in Naperville, and the delegates assembled passed nearly 30 Resolutions giving us clear direction over the course of the next 2 years. Our hosts did an amazing job and Local 4302 cannot be thanked enough. AFFI District Vice President Matt Olson was also bestowed the title of Emeritus Officer after a successful and productive AFFI career. Congratulations to him.

We also attended the IAFF Convention in Boston that saw 60 Resolutions pass. The IAFF Legislative department is working the US Congress hard to remove the social security Windfall Elimination Act. Those that worked a second job outside of their local government firefighter job and qualifies for social security, currently has their social security benefits reduced due to their government pension. HR 82 would remove that penalty and will be heard on the House floor sometime after the election. I am proud to inform you that all but 2 Illinois congressional members are co-sponsors. (LaHood and Miller are NOT).

We also had another successful AFFI/MDA baseball game fundraiser, bringing in over $15,000. A big thank you to the IARF for being a triple play sponsor. In addition to that, we also had our annual AFFI day at the State Fair with a few retirees joining us, and we recently returned from Colorado Springs and the IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial where 7 brothers from Illinois were honored, and their names placed on the wall. I would encourage all of you to visit the memorial if given the opportunity.

We are also proud to be a member of the We Are One Coalition of public employee unions with the sole purpose of improving tier 2 pension benefits. We participated in 8 different town halls all across the state that brought public employees and lawmakers together to discuss the unfair and demoralizing reduced benefits our tier 2 brothers and sisters are currently entitled to. Each town hall had a speaker representing the AFFI and they provided their own personal story on how tier 2 affects them and their family. Each one did a tremendous job. Thousands of public employees attended the various events and thanks to each of the IARF members who also attended and stood up for our tier 2 members. We have good momentum, but it is going to be a significant lift to get some much-needed tier 2 “enhancements”. With all of us in the We Are One coalition pushing in the same direction, we can have some positive results.

We are right in the middle of election season and our AFFI Political Education Committee is out in full force working for AFFI endorsed candidates in targeted elections. Any assistance you can provide is certainly welcome. You should be getting a schedule of events from Mark Chmura.
I could go on and on about the multiple and various things the AFFI is doing. Suffice it to say, we are extremely busy, but a good busy. We also welcomed Burbank and Thornton into the AFFI and IAFF recently, putting us at 232 locals.

I hope you had an enjoyable Summer and, as always, we are forever grateful for the work and commitment our IARF brothers and sisters did to make our jobs better.

In Solidarity,

Chuck Sullivan, President AFFI

Pension Reform Summary

Click HERE to read the summary of the task force analysis and recommendations.

 

Members of the IARF attend the 2019 AFFI Legislative Conference

Mike Levine, Dan Oaks, Jay Smith, Rep. Mike Unes and Roger Fardel.