ROCKY'S ON CALL, EVEN ON HOLIDAYS.

Byline: Dennis McCarthy 

Rocky Morton was busy making Passover dinner late Wednesday afternoon with her fingers crossed.

If all went well, she might actually make it through the entire evening with her family without her pager going off.

If all went well - which, in this house, is no sure bet.

``Our friends have taken to asking me to leave my pager at home when they invite us over for dinner because sometimes I have to leave in the middle of the meal,'' says Morton, the only female reserve deputy sheriff on the 16-member volunteer Malibu Sheriff's Rescue Team.

Last Christmas, she and her husband, Lon, were having dinner with some friends when her beeper went off, and Rocky had to leave before the turkey and dressing were served to rescue two families lost on a hike in Malibu Creek State Park.

``We eventually found them, and brought them home safely, but it took all night,'' she said Wednesday afternoon, preparing dinner, and hoping no one would need rescuing after Passover began at sundown.

Her real first name is Roxanna, not Rocky, but no one ever called her that, not even her mother, she says. She's always been Rocky, the only girl growing up with four brothers.

This June, Rocky turns 50. To celebrate, she's going to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She's already climbed Mount Whitney and Mount Rainer.

She also went back to school a few years ago to get her master's degree in pediatrics, graduating summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles.

If Walter Mitty had a sister, Rocky Morton would be her. Only she isn't dreaming about adventure, she's living it.

``I'm a country club woman who can go from a gown and high heels to my jumpsuit and hiking boots out in the rain all night,'' she laughs. ``People look at me and shake their heads.''

Actually, this double life she leads is all her husband's fault, Rocky says.

Ten years ago, when their two children were ready to strike out on their own, she decided to help Lon at his financial planning business.

``It wasn't long before he wanted me out of the office, and thought maybe I should retire,'' she laughed. ``I started hiking, and heard about the sheriff's rescue team, but I didn't seriously think about trying to join, at first.''

But the more she thought about it, the more she decided, why not? They didn't call her Rocky for nothing.

``Lon was very supportive when I told him what I wanted to do,'' she said. ``I wasn't sure he wanted his wife getting up in the middle of the night and going out to rescue someone.

``I went to the Sheriff's Academy part time for six months training, and this September, it will be 10 years I've been on the rescue team,'' she said.

There have been other female reserve deputies on the team over the years, but not many, said Deputy Kevin Augarten, who helps supervise the rescue team.

``We'd love to see more women want to join, but it's been one of those things where most people still think a job like this is more male-oriented, but it really isn't,'' he said.

``Someone like Rocky, with her dedication and enthusiasm, brings her own special skills and talents to the team, and makes it even better,'' Augarten said.

For anyone interested in joining the rescue team, Augarten can be reached at the Malibu sheriff's station reserve coordination office, [phone].

Sure, it's a big commitment of energy and time, Rocky says, but it's well worth it.

``When you're out there in a driving rainstorm in the middle of the night rescuing someone, saving lives, well, it's an exhilarating, wonderful feeling of accomplishment,'' she said.

Well worth getting paged for on Christmas.

But, hopefully, not Passover.

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Photo: Rocky Morton, wearing her jumpsuit for the Malibu Sheriff's Rescue Team, scoops up some matzo ball soup at her home at Lake Sherwood.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer