Jefferson City native named 911 director of year

A Jefferson City native has been named the 911 Director of the Year in Missouri.

Zim Schwartze currently is the Springfield-Greene County 911 director and was given the award at the Missouri Public Safety Communications Conference last month in Columbia. Schwartze said she was humbled and surprised since her staff nominated her without her knowledge.

Schwartze grew up in Jefferson City with two brothers and one sister. They all attended Helias.

“I call it living in a high school town and then going onto a college town, Columbia, where I got my degree,” she said. “I loved it.”

Schwartze’s parents, Bernard and Marcella Schwartze, still live in Jefferson City.

After completing her education at the University of Missouri, Schwartze worked with the Columbia Police Department and was head of the Boone County 911 Office before retiring and then going to Springfield to head the 911 operation there in 2013.

Schwartze has also volunteered for the Special Olympics-Missouri for almost 25 years and is chair for the State Summer Games held annually in Springfield.

The announcement of Schwartze’s award comes as the state is observing National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, observed every year to honor those who dispatch emergency service personnel when citizens are in distress.