Celebrating America Through Local Eyes

Local veterans and heroes will be sharing their thoughts on what makes Marco and America special by answering some patriotic questions. It’s our way to honor those whose dedication and sacrifices make our Island community shine.  

Geoff Fahringer
Retired Law Enforcement Officer 

Geoff Fahringer came to Marco Island in 1994 from the Syracuse, New York, area with his wife, Kathie, and their three sons, Jason, Adrian, and Erich. Geoff is a 50-year career law enforcement officer, first retiring as a supervisor with the City of Syracuse Police Department after 21 years and for 29 years with the Collier County Sheriff's Office. 

Fahringer was a SWAT team member for 19 years and a member of the Sheriff's Office dive team. He was a Detective with the Vice Narcotics Major Crimes Unit before transferring to the Organized Crime Intelligence Bureau. 

In the beginning of his 29 years with the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Fahringer was assigned to the Marco Island District Sixsubstation. While on Marco,Fahringer became the Island’s first community orientated policing (COPS) deputy. Working with the Marco Island Rotary,Fahringer started a bicycle patrol program on Marco that eventually became a county-wide addition to the Sheriff’s patrol division. 

In 1996, with Rotarians Frank Mafai, the broker at that time with Lely Development, and Tony Iannotta, the owner of Island Mortgage, they organized a golf tournament at the Lely Flamingo Golf Course and raised $22,500 to build a skate park at the YMCA campus. The wooden ramps came from Marco’s first sports festival. After several years, when interest in the skatepark waned, the YMCA Director, Cindy Love-Abounader, donated the wooden ramps to the county’s Immokalee skatepark. The YMCA youth development center now sits on that site.  

Fahringer also worked on safety issues on the Island, did community policing seminars on safety for Island residents as well as self-defense classes for women. Currently, he is a member of the Marco Island Noontime Rotary Club, is the training and safety officer for the Marco Island Yacht Club, and the safety officer for the Marco Island Sail and Power Squadron. Geoff was on the city waterways committee in 2000 and is currently on the city’s planning board.  

If you could travel back in time to one event in our Island’s history, which one would it be?  

Being a history buff, I, would love to see the Island back when the Calusa Indians were the residents. But the late 60s and early 70swould be it; to meet and speak with the Mackle brothers, Herb Savage, and others.To see the golf outings with Sam Sneed and other old pros, and to be able to tell them what their dream would become! Afun fact a lot of people don'tknow is that in the 1971 movie The French Connection with Gene Hackman, during a Sunday morning bar scene, the clock radio can be heard playing an ad for Deltona Corporation and Marco Island! 

Which historical American figure do you most admire? 

President Ronald Reagan. I saw firsthand everything he did to make our country stronger and better, including his biggest accomplishment, to me, getting the communists to tear down the Berlin Wall and the subsequent ending of East Berlin.  

If you would like to nominate a Veteran or local hero to be featured in Celebrating America Through Local Eyes, contact Brittany Richards at brittany@coastalbreezenews.com.