Celebrate National Natural Gas Utility Workers' Day: Rick Roycroft

Throughout the month of March, natural gas utility providers across the country will celebrate "Natural Gas Utility Worker's Day" to recognize the hard work and dedication of those who work in the industry. At Nicor Gas, our employees work tirelessly to serve our 2.3 million customers daily to provide the clean, safe, reliable and affordable service they expect and deserve.

For Rick Roycroft, a distribution crew leader out of Nicor Gas' Des Plaines office, serving his community is in his blood. Roycroft joined the company as a meter reader in 1990 and has progressed in his career over the last three decades to an operations mechanic, distribution operator, technician and now crew leader.

"It's a great atmosphere to be in every day," he said. "And so rewarding. I'm still learning something new every day, even after 33 years."

It hasn't always been a typical job of working on pipelines for Rick. Early in his career, he received the President's Life Saving Award from the company for rescuing several residents in an apartment complex that was on fire in Schaumburg.

"I was a meter reader at the time and saw the building was on fire early in the morning," he said. "I began banging on and kicking in doors to help evacuate residents. The fire department was responding on one side of the building but wasn't aware this section was being consumed with flames."

Outside of work, Roycroft lives in Des Plaines with his wife where he is also a retired reserve police officer for the city. He has two grown children - one who works for the city of Des Plaines and one who recently joined Nicor Gas at its Bloomington office.