Dampier stalwarts farewell Pilbara

Forty-six years of living in the Pilbara has come to an end for Dampier residents Dennis and Jan Mills.

On Thursday at Penny Palms, last drinks were held at a retirement event for Mr Mills, who worked all those years in the Pilbara with Rio Tinto and its predecessors.

The pair arrived with fanfare and sirens in the Dampier Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service's shining fire truck to acknowledge Mr Mills' nearly 40 years with the brigade.

Mr Mills said it had been great to make a life in this part of the world and they were going to miss the place.

"One of my bosses said he'd been up fishing and (told me to) 'come have a look at it', so I did and I'm still here," he said.

"We came here in 1969 which was not long after the first shipment of ore in 1966. I drove up and there was no bitumen from just north of Carnarvon to here.

"I had a Toyota Corolla, which was a very small car, and I was towing a trailer with all my worldly possessions."

Mrs Mills said she came up three weeks later, on December 12, nine months after they were married.

"The work function was the day after I arrived and I met a lot of people," she said.

"We were in the flats in Dampier, so it was just Dennis and myself for lunch on Christmas Day, which was different to having family."

Mrs Mills worked at a store next to the wet mess on the foreshore before the birth of the couple's daughters, both born at the old Dampier Hospital.

Mrs Mills went back to work and was with Woolworths for more than 27 years before she retired 18 months ago.

She said they never would have stayed in Dampier for so long if it wasn't such a great place, but now they would resettle near Geraldton.

Dampier fire brigade captain Ron Quince said in the eight years he'd known Mr Mills he had always been around to give a helping hand.

"He's been an excellent firefighter … always there helping out, doing whatever he can around the station," he said.

Mr Mills said the send-off had been a special occasion and not too many people got to the point where they'd put in so much service to same company.

While he had no specific anecdotes to share about his time in Dampier, he did say the birth of his daughters foremost, and the fishing were standouts.

Mr Mills also thanked all the friends they'd known over the years and said it had all been great.