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Mike Raschke’s career has taken him across a wide range of avenues, including 26 years as a propane truck driver, 22 years in the dairy industry and 28 years coaching sports, with nine years coaching high school softball at Adna.
The Adna native has excelled everywhere he’s been. Raschke worked on his family dairy farm that operated for more than a century, won three state championships as Adna’s softball coach and delivered at least 23,750,000 gallons of propane while working as a driver for Ferrellgas, a propane distribution provider based in Chehalis.
In fact, Raschke drove nearly 671,000 miles and completed almost 77,000 stops across his 26-year career; his accumulated mileage is nearly three times the distance from Earth to the moon.
But his productive career at Ferrellgas is coming to a close, as Raschke’s final day will be Aug. 8, when he will have a retirement party from 1 to 4 p.m. at Forest Grange in Chehalis. He will receive a retirement plaque and cake before he officially hangs up his blue Ferrellgas apparel.
“Overall, it’s about the great people I’ve worked with and the customers I’ve met. It’s just great meeting a lot of interesting people,” Raschke said of his fondest memories at Ferrellgas. “I never looked anywhere else. I never got online or looked at the paper for anybody hiring. I stayed here.”
Raschke will turn 67 this year, and he admitted that the decision to retire was a difficult one but one that was made with his family in mind, particularly his 12 grandchildren ranging in age from one month to 18 years old.
“My grandkids are going to be my hobby. I’m a little nervous about not getting up at 4 o’clock and going to work,” Raschke joked.
In terms of retirement plans, Raschke said the heftier plans will wait until his wife retires, but he enjoys camping, visiting the beach and spending time with his children and grandchildren.
“We travel out of state a couple weeks a year, so we might do that a little bit more,” he said. “But I’ll stay home and see our kids and grandkids on their birthdays and holidays. We don’t like missing holidays. We’ve got 12 grandchildren so we’ve got about one every month.”
Raschke served as the head softball coach at Adna High School from 2008 to 2016, winning 2B state championships in 2009, 2011 and 2015 while finishing second at state three times. He said after his retirement from coaching softball that he would remain local to Adna, and he plans to do the same after his retirement from Ferrellgas.
He credited current Adna head coach Bruce Pocklington for carrying on the winning ways in recent years, as the Pirates have won three straight state championships.
“They were successful when I took over, and Pock was a good replacement. He’s done a tremendous job, him and his coaching staff,” Raschke said. “The kids here at Adna love the game of softball. They work hard in the offseason. That’s the way it is now, and that’s the way it was when I did it.”
Gavin Dinnel, district manager for Ferrellgas, said the Aug. 8 retirement ceremony for Raschke will be an opportunity to honor a man well known in Lewis County for his contributions to the company.
“He’s had such a big impact on the community, this company and especially the community of Adna. We want to make sure he’s recognized for everything he means to us professionally and personally,” Dinnel said.
The retirement party is open to the public. Light refreshments and appetizers will be available.
