Eye of the Hurricane

Image by Terrell Manasco“Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm.”-Marcus GarveyRichard Fikes ambles into the conference room at Jackson, Fikes, Hood, and Brakefield, attired in a crisp blue checked button down shirt and slacks. Settling into a chair, he leans back, one arm resting on the conference table, his manner so relaxed and low-key you can feel your pulse rate dropping within seconds. While that placid demeanor is certainly a welcome asset in the courtroom, it is infinitely more valuable in his capacity as a volunteer firefighter, serving both as a calming presence in the midst of chaos and a beacon of hope to those in often highly volatile circumstances.The youngest son of a dentist, Richard was born in 1960 in Winfield, Alabama. “It’s a small town, very rural,” he says in a Southern-accented baritone. “At the time we had two red lights.”Like many small towns of that era, Winfield of the 1960s was a very different place. “We used to ride our bikes up and down Highway 43 and thought nothing about it,” Richard shrugs. “If I wasn't home by dark, Mom would usually know where I was.” In those days Winfield had no fast food restaurants where teens could hang out, so they had to improvise. “The major attraction was what’s called ‘The Loop,’” he says. “Back in the day, Highway 78 ran through each end of town, and you could take a left and make a loop and come back on 78, so we would loop through town, and that was our major attraction.”At Winfield City High School, Richard participated in sports, including track and basketball. “We ran four guards and had a big man in the middle,” he says. “We didn’t have much height so we did a lot of shooting.”He also played golf, frequently teeing off next to his father, the golf champion at Pikeville Country Club. “I guess you could say I was also raised on the golf course,” he says. His dad later joined Musgrove Country Club and played there for many years, which required some logistical planning. “At some point he began closing the office on Wednesdays, and he would always drop me off at school by seven so he could make the trip to Jasper.”In 1978, Richard graduated from Winfield and enrolled at the University of Alabama, majoring in criminal justice with a double minor in psychology and sociology. “I was really undecided on what I wanted to do. I guess you could say my father mandated I go to Alabama,” he says with a wry grin. “It was Alabama or be disinherited.”Richard had developed a keen interest in law enforcement, so he applied with the FBI. Had his sister-in-law not been in law school at the time, he might have chosen the Bureau over law school. “I think maybe she had some criminal law books for her classes that just had a lot of interesting cases in there,” Richard recalls. “I think that’s kind of what steered me in that direction, plus in criminal justice, I didn’t have to worry about chemistry or some of those harder courses that I didn’t enjoy in high school.”After graduating from Alabama in 1982, Richard enrolled at Cumberland Law School. He graduated in May of 1985, and within a month or two he was being interviewed. “I met with Eddie Jackson in the summer of ‘85,” he says. “Then I met with Mr. Tweedy and Mr. Harvey Jackson. They took a chance on me, hired me, and I’ve been here ever since.”The following year while Richard was in Fort Walton, Florida, visiting a friend from law school, his friend’s wife introduced him one of her young co-workers named Dee Dee Pippen. They began dating in the spring of 1986. “The trips were long, and almost every weekend,” he grins. “We were engaged pretty quickly and married in December.”In 1992, their first son, Hunter, was born. Their second son, Spencer, came along in 1994. Both sons are graduates of Curry High School. Hunter graduated from Faulkner University with a criminal justice degree and is currently a Nashville police officer. Spencer is now a student at the University of Alabama.Richard has now been practicing law for just over three decades. To him, it’s more than a career. “I’m trying to help somebody accomplish something,” he says. “Most of the people we deal with have a problem and they need that problem solved.”For the last twenty-two years, Richard has been helping solve problems of a much more dramatic nature. “I’ve always tried to be involved in community affairs,” he says. “I moved to the Thach community back in July 1994. I saw a need for volunteers at the local fire department, and became a member in November of ‘94.” As with his law practice, the satisfaction comes from helping people. “I think the good Lord has blessed me with the abilities to help other people in various ways, so I’ve just tried to do that. It’s just another way to help those in need.”The Thach Volunteer Fire Department handles three main types of calls: fires, MVAs (motor vehicle accidents), and medical calls. Richard estimates they average in excess of three hundred calls a year. “We have pagers, and mine is usually with me, unless I’m in the courtroom. I’ll go if I can,” he says.Thach currently has around twenty volunteer members, but Richard says they can always use more. “I would encourage anyone who has thought about the possibility of doing that in their community to check with their local fire department,” he says. “Sometimes there is a misconception that you have to run into a burning house and save somebody, and while that may be the case from time to time, there are so many other opportunities that the fire department offers. There are various ways people can offer assistance without putting their lives in jeopardy. I really enjoy it. We make a difference in our community.”He also served as vice president of the Walker County Firefighter’s Association until the president, Terry McCullar, passed away last August. “I stepped up to take over his role as president and finish out his term,” Richard says. “It’s put me in a position of being the assistant chief at Thach, and taking that department forward. It’s something that I think has fell into place, and something I look forward to doing.”Whether he is responding to a house engulfed in a blazing inferno, or a burning situation in the courtroom requiring his immediate attention, Richard tackles both, charging headlong into the raging situation.Richard Fikes. Seasoned attorney, volunteer firefighter, problem solver, extending a calm, steady hand in the midst of the maelstrom.And now, rising from his chair, one corner of his mouth turned up in a slight grin, Richard bids goodbye and casually strolls out of the conference room and down the hall, back to work. 78