Lance Cpl. Robert Beres, of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, recently named trooper of the year there, says he owes everything to Fairfield.

In 1972, Beres, then 2 years old, and his parents moved from a refugee camp in Austria to Fairfield, where they lived for eight years in a house owned by the Calvin United Church of Christ.

Beres' father had "cleaned chicken cages" for an Austrian farmer to raise the money to travel to the United States, Beres said during a recent phone interview.

From there, the trooper, now 36, was inspired by the examples of generosity and hard work in his life in his new hometown.

"I had a passion to help people," he said.

In Fairfield, his father worked and his mother cleaned the church until they saved up enough in 1980 to buy a $22,000 fixer-upper on Longfellow Avenue. His late father, a carpenter, repaired the house, and his sister, Kristina, now a 10-year veteran of the Norwalk Police Department, still lives there.

Beres went on to a life of service himself. After graduating from Fairfield High School, he served in the U.S. Navy four years and then became a South Carolina trooper, because there was a waiting list to become a trooper with the Connecticut State Police.

That didn't change his drive to help people.

Fourteen years later, he still enjoys helping others, although his on-the-job responsibilities have grown. He was recently named one of several spokesmen for the South Carolina department, and serves in the community

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relations unit.

Given the examples of community service he saw as a youth, Beres remains committed to giving back.

For example, he worked a second job at a Lowe's Home Improvement store for six years to earn money to buy a boat, and owned it for about three months.

But in 2000, when he returned from a trip to Fairfield, he saw the remains of his 86-year-old neighbor's home, ravaged by fire.

"Without a thought, I just sold the boat," he said.

He let his 11-year-old son give the woman the check, and used his connections at Lowe's and the local media to organize efforts to rebuild her house.

"I'm 36 years old. I can get another boat," he said.

Beres also spends some of his lunch breaks dining with children at their school and reading to them, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

He'll step out and direct traffic as well, the police added.

Beres said success isn't about money.

"Being successful to me is leaving the world a better place," he said.

He also had a message for his adopted hometown, which he visits about three times a year.

"I am very proud of Fairfield," he said.