David Allbritten spent the first chapter of his life serving the Department of Justice as an ATF agent. For the second chapter he is focusing on serving others in the community. He is also on a crusade to bring the fedora back in style. Photo by Lauren Zeugner.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

WARSAW  — David Allbritten believes in serving others. He was just appointed to the Warsaw Wayne Township Fire Territory Board as a community member.

Before being appointed to the fire territory board, he served on Warsaw’s Traffic Safety Commission, which looks at a variety of traffic safety issues, from stop signs and speed limits to whether roads need to be widened or narrowed.
Allbritten was sworn in at the Aug. 1 fire territory meeting.

But serving on city and township boards are just a small part of how Allbritten serves his community. He recently retired after serving 32 years with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. He was assigned to the Fort Wayne field office, which serves 20 counties. with the majority of his time spent in South Bend heading up a multi-agency task force dealing with felons in possession of firearms, armed drug traffickers and more.

“It was a great group of guys,” Allbritten said of the men he worked on task force. “I really enjoyed the guys I worked with. They’re trying to do the right thing.” He said he worked with great people at both the federal and local levels, and while he misses them, he doesn’t miss the middle of the night phone calls.

Allbritten studied sociology and criminal justice in college. After graduation, while looking for a job, he met an ATF agent in the gym. The two were chatting about the agent’s job. Allbritten liked what he heard, applied for a position and he was hired.

After serving the Department of Justice for 32 years, Allbritten turned in his badge and his gun. Now he “serves Jesus by serving others.”

“There are a lot of people who do the right thing. I serve those,” he said, explaining he’s active in a number of different community organizations that assist those in need.

He serves as mentor at Fellowship Mission. He also volunteers with Combined Community Services. He and his wife, Brenda, attend Warsaw Community Church were he is also active in a variety of ways. He’s beginning the process to be a Stephen’s Minister.

He is also a member of the World Compassion Network offering disaster relief services. He explained the network has a regional focus and typically partners with a church in a disaster area. In this region he’s gone to help those affected by floods or tornadoes.

“I felt called to do this,” he said of his service work.

He and Brenda are also involved with Habitat for Humanity through Warsaw Community Church. Habitat for Humanity is currently building two homes in Claypool and the Allbrittens are mentoring one of the homeowners.

“I so enjoy these things,” Allbritten said. “My faith has been stretched. People just want to be heard and know someone cares. That’s what we’re called to do, love God, love your neighbor.”

When he isn’t busy helping others, Allbritten enjoys spending time with Brenda and his English Labrador, Hank. He is also loves blues rock, is a genealogy buff and loves to cook with sushi being his speciality.

The Allbrittens have two sons, both of whom are married. One is an estimator/construction project engineer while the other is in his third year of residency at a large hospital system in Kentucky.
The couple also have two grandchildren.