| On February 20, 2008 Ex-Chief Charlie Oelkers passed away after being hospitalized for several months. He was 79 years old. He was one of the most active members and leaders in the Department's history.
Charlie began his 62-year volunteer career with the Sayville Fire Department as a Juvenile member. He joined the department ranks in 1946 and dedicated his life to the volunteer fire service. He held officer positions for 15 years straight as he moved through the ranks to Chief of the Department in 1965. He was a Commissioner for 17 years beginning in 1979. Charlie also held the position of 1st Vice President of the department from 2005 until his passing. Charlie volunteered a lot of time over the years to other fire service organizations.
As Charlie moved along in his fire department career, he joined the Fire Police, but he was not going to sit back and take it easy. He could be seen out directing traffic at alarms regardless of the hour of the day or the severity of the weather. Charlie was even a "top 10" responder for 2006 and 2007. He was also the Secretary of the Fire Police from 2003 until his passing.
Charlie was a Fire Prevention Instructor for many years. He still enjoyed the opportunity to show off Sayville's trucks to the local kids. You would still see him out there helping the local children squirt water during their trips to the firehouse.
The "go to" guy when someone needed historical information or photos was Charlie, of course. He was Sayville Fire Department's unofficial historian. Charlie always brought a few old photo albums to meetings for members to go through so that the younger members could know the rich history of the Sayville Fire Department.
Charlie was a very proud and dedicated member of the Sayville Fire Department and will be greatly missed by all. He is now at peace with his brother, Ex-Chief William Oelkers, who like Charlie also moved through the ranks to Chief and remained a very active member of the Sayville Fire Department until his death in 2005. The 1936 Buick, which Charlie helped restore for Sayville Fire Department's 100th Anniversary in 2005, carried him to his resting place at Union Cemetery in Sayville. |
