Suffield Township fire captain dies after more than 50 years of service

Jeff Saunders, Record-Courier
·2 min read
Fire Capt. Robert Dudley, who would have marked 53 years with the Suffield Fire Department in June, died Sunday.
Fire Capt. Robert Dudley, who would have marked 53 years with the Suffield Fire Department in June, died Sunday.

It may not be a surprise to those who knew him that Suffield Township Fire Capt. Robert L. Dudley was still on the fire department's roster at the time of his death.

"A lot of people enter this job field, fire and EMS, as a job," said Fire Chief Bob Rasnick on Monday. "That isn't the way it was for Bob Dudley. This was his life. So the only way to get him to stop would be his death. Because fire and EMS services, public service, is who he was."

Dudley, 75, had been with the fire department for more than a half-century when he died Sunday morning. Rasnick said he did not want to publicly disclose the specific cause, but it was natural.

Suffield Fire Capt. Robert Dudley
Suffield Fire Capt. Robert Dudley

There was a procession of fire department vehicles in Dudley's honor through the area, including past the Rootstown, Randolph, Suffield and Springfield township fire departments, on Sunday afternoon. Plans for a public celebration of life are pending, said Rasnick.

Dudley's career began when he went to work for an ambulance service in Summit County in 1968. He was also an American Red Cross volunteer instructor.

He joined the Suffield Township Fire Department on June 18, 1970, and became the township's first paramedic, the highest level of EMS training, in 1983. This began the fire department's move from basic to advanced life-support service. He was the township's longest-serving firefighter.

Rasnick said that at various times, Dudley also served on the Springfield and Jackson township and Goodyear corporate fire departments.

"He was with a plethora of private ambulance companies through the years, too," he said.

Of late, Dudley had no longer been able to go out on calls, but still remained active with the department.

"He was doing a lot of training," said Rasnick. "Yeah, he came to all the training sessions and he was a coach and a mentor with the new people."

In recent years, Dudley had received honors for his service.

Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Suffield Township fire captain dies after more than 50 years of service