Video-(12.27.24)-William Zipfel says goodbye after 42 1/2 years with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office.
By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
On Friday afternoon, William Zipfel was “walked out” of the new Genesee County Jail on West Main Street Road in a ceremony marking the end of a 42 ½-year career with the Sheriff’s Office, including the last 10 years as jail superintendent.
The lifelong county resident (he grew up on a dairy farm and went to Elba Central School), Zipfel said he’s undecided about future endeavors, but “jumping out” – of airplanes, that is – may be in the mix.
Fellow county employees, friends and family gathered at the new facility to honor Zipfel, 72, for an exemplary career marked by two Sheriff’s Office Distinguished Service Awards (in 1995 and earlier this month) and the New York State Sheriff’s Association’s Corrections Officer of the Year (in 1999).
In an interview with Video News Service, Zipfel said he might take on a part-time job but also said he may be getting the urge to rachet his skill of skydiving up a notch.
“One of my good friends, a captain with the Buffalo Fire Department, was one of my mentors and instructors when I started skydiving,” Zipfel said. “I have had instructional ratings for skydiving. I may go back and get those renewed.”
Zipfel said he has 730 jumps under his belt.
“I’ve taken people on tandem skydiving. I’ve been a coach,” he added.
When it was mentioned that now that he’s retired, “The sky’s the limit,” Zipfel quickly responded, “No, the ground’s the limit.”
Joking aside, a career in jail supervision came with a great deal of stress, said Zipfel, noting that he turned to a psychiatrist with Genesee County Mental Health many years ago.
“At one point, I underwent hypnosis and some rapid eye movement stuff with a psychologist. I would come to work – this was back when I was a supervisor – and I’d be fine but within an hour, I would get a headache,” he recalled.
Zipfel said he would take ibuprofen or acetaminophen in an attempt to get rid of the headache, but nothing worked.
“It would just get worse all day long. Then, I’d go home, and it (the pain) would go away. I finally said, ‘There’s a pattern here,” he said.
The psychologist said, “I’ve got some things I might try.’ One of them was hypnosis and the other was the rapid eye movement stuff. And it worked.”
Zipfel’s wife of 48 years, Joyce, said she could attest to the demands of the job.
“It was difficult at times,” she said. “Very demanding. Holidays, weekends. The superintendent position was basically like 24/7. He was on call – nights, holidays.”
Joyce said she has “mixed emotions” as her husband ends his career with the Sheriff’s Office, acknowledging, “It’s going to be different … having him around all the time.”
The Zipfels have twin daughters, Courtney Mailhot and Caitlin Lute, both longtime Tops Friendly Market employees, and daughter, Carissa, who lives in Indiana. Joyce said they will be looking forward to family trips to Florida and trips to Indiana.
“And our four grandchildren … that keeps us busy,” she said.
As he prepares for the next chapter in his life, Zipfel said he considers the multiple trainings he received – becoming an instructor in defensive tactics, chemical agents, firearms and more — as “highlights” of his time with the Sheriff’s Office.
He decried some of the new regulations being imposed by New York State – “It has made a lot of things completely untenable,” he said – and isn’t thrilled with the inmate housing configuration of the new jails being built.
The new Genesee County Jail opened in the summer of 2024
“In actuality, and the people at the county won’t like this, the old jail was much easier to manage because it had inmate separation,” he said. “This facility, the way they’re building them today with a pod of 45 people in it, you’ve got some pods around the outside and that’s where your troublemakers are.
“The problem with that is that they have sight and sound with every inmate in there; so, there’s no separation. Once they start to aggravate somebody, they just continue to aggravate. If you have a situation where you have to get that person out of that sub-pod for anything, other inmate or inmates are right on top of you and the fights start.”
Bricks removed from the front porch of the old Genesee County Jail at West Main Street and Porter Avenue, circa 1903, which now is part of the main entrance of the new jail on West Main Street Road. Zipfel, who termed the configuration as “the pizza oven,” was instrumental in having the bricks and red sandstone blocks incorporated into the new facility.