An amazing five decades of service has come to an end for a Greenwich firefighter.

Patrick Gordiski, 73, was all smiles Friday at the Greenwich firehouse where colleagues, friends and family congratulated him on 50 years of dedicated service.

"It’s really nice. A lot of people showed up. I'm really proud of it. I appreciate it," said Gordiski.

"Fifty years of pounding on your body and getting up in the middle of the night working fires and stuff like that," said Greenwich Fire Chief Joseph McHugh.

Gordiski was sworn in back in 1972 and is the longest running firefighter in the department's history. Gordiski says he loved his job.

"It’s everything. It's people. I like helping people. I always did," said Gordiski.

"He's been a mentor to a lot of people in this department," said McHugh.

When Gordiski started, he didn't have the sophisticated equipment used today. Gordiski would take emergency telephone calls and dispatch them with a push button bell that sounded like a zing - giving Gordiski the nickname Zinger.

Gordiski took one last ride around the block today.

"He's going to move on now and spend more time with his family, travel. We're going to miss his personality and him around the firehouse," said McHugh.

While Gordiski is retiring in Greenwich, he still plans to help out in Port Chester where he has been a firefighter for 55 years.

Gordiski says the worst call he remembers was the Gulliver's Night Club fire in 1974 on the Port Chester border that killed 24 people.