2023 Men of the Year: Kevin Routh

Some might call Kevin Routh a renaissance man.

His resume displays the wide interests and expert abilities in several areas that define his career: police officer, commander and major; real estate agent; coach to new fathers; college instructor; and Army reservist.

His current job is for Pregnancy Care Center as director of its fatherhood program.

This is a new line of work for Routh, one that started with his own daughter’s pregnancy and his personal volunteering as a fatherhood coach at PCC. He now manages a team of 10 coaches, who last year collectively served 510 men with fatherhood mentoring and group education.

“PCC’s men’s program aims to break societal stereotypes and provide resources and guidance to expectant fathers, particularly those who lack positive male role models in their life,” Routh says.

Routh’s longest career tenure was with the Springfield Police Department. It spanned 26 years and involved a variety of work as a detention officer, patrol officer and supervisor. He served on the major crimes response team and criminal investigations division, and was an organized crime supervisor and commander of special investigations. He retired from SPD in 2012 as a major in the Bureau of Investigations and Support Services.

Soon after, he got into real estate and started a team with Keller Williams Greater Springfield. Routh says the group consistently achieved annual sales over $10 million and a top 20% placement for production within the brokerage.

“I have worked to maintain an attitude of service toward others and the community at large, whether that’s been as a police officer or commander, a real estate agent or a fatherhood program director,” Routh says.

Volunteerism is a thread in Routh’s career. That’s how he got his first job with the SPD. He began to volunteer in the cadet program at the age of 15 and continued for five years before volunteering the next two years in the SPD reserve office.

“I progressed from washing police cars as a cadet to graduating from the Police Academy and patrolling the streets of north Springfield,” says Routh, a Willard native. “My proudest accomplishment is helping countless citizens feel safe and valuable and whatever part I had in shaping the fabric of a thriving community.”

He’s now all in for the expectant fathers at PCC and the impact the next generations can make. “Our goal for our clients is to help them create a ripple effect of positive change in their families and communities,” Routh says. “We believe families are more stable when there is an engaged father present and that healthy families create strong communities.”

Over the years in the community, Routh has served on the advisory boards for the Community Alternative Sentencing Program and Isabel’s House, and he’s currently a member of the Greater Springfield Apartment & Housing Association, the state and national Realtors associations, and the FBI National Academy Associates Inc.

“I always believed – and still do believe – that together we can inspire change, foster trust and build a brighter future for Springfield,” he says.