John Fuerst, a 55-year veteran volunteer and former chief and chaplain of the New Hyde Park Fire Department, died on Dec. 7 after a long illness. He was 82 years old.
Fuerst was sworn in as a volunteer in the fire department’s Active Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 on May 1, 1956. He eventually became captain of that company. He was named fourth deputy chief in 1982 and served as chief of the New Hyde Park Fire Department in 1987.
Fuerst also served as chaplain of the fire department for more than a decade.
“He was devoted to the fire department. It was his life,” said New Hyde Park Fire Department Chief John Willers.
Fuerst’s son, Douglas, said his father became chaplain while he was serving as a eucharistic minister at Holy Spirit R.C. Church in New Hyde Park.
“He was quite devout. He felt very strongly about it,” Fuerst said.
Fuerst said his father’s health was in decline over the past two years, while he lived in the Firemen’s Retirement Home in Hudson, NY.
While he was at the home, Fuerst said his father became its unofficial chaplain, ministering to his fellow firefighters.
Up until moving to the home in Hudson, Fuerst had remained an active member of the fire department.
Edgar Teepe, a 50-year veteran of Protection Engine No. 2 and secretary of the New Hyde Park Fire Department, recalled Fuerst as a good comrade and companion.
“He was a good chief. He was a good friend,” Teepe said. “He’d do anything to help anybody.”
Asked if his father had any pastimes, Fuerst said, “About the only thing he had as a hobby was the fire department. He dedicated himself to that.”
A lifelong New Hyde Park resident, Fuerst served in the U.S. Army from 1949 to 1950.
He started working at what was the Bank of New Hyde Park as a teller after being discharged from the service, his son said.
He said the elder Fuerst worked for several banks and eventually became regional vice president of Empire of America.
“He was just one of those people. He had a great personality,” Fuerst said.
Fuerst is survived by his two sons, Douglas and Christopher and six grandchildren, Zachary, Caitlin, Jessica, Douglas Jr., Danielle and Thomas.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held last Saturday morning at Holy Spirit Church. Fuerst’s body was then taken in a funeral procession of fire trucks along Jericho Turnpike to Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury for interment after the mass.
