Bill Waldron, 67, longtime volunteer firefighter, dies

Even as his 66th birthday approached last year, longtime volunteer firefighter Bill Waldron had no intention of slowing down. Waldron - ever the rescuer - paused on his way home for lunch to pull a young man from a burning car.

"That was his entire life: 'Give me somebody to save, give me somebody to help,' " said his wife, Judy Waldron of Deer Park.

Bill Waldron - former chief of the Wyandanch Volunteer Fire Company who also spent a long career in building maintenance at Newsday - died Tuesday at Stony Brook University Medical Center after a long illness. He was 67.

Waldron was born in Manhattan on Aug. 27, 1943, and his family moved to New Hyde Park when he was 12. He graduated from Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park and was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in Germany during the Vietnam War, months before he and Judy Waldron were to be married. They postponed the wedding until two weeks after he returned in December 1969.

"He was sorry he never went to Vietnam," Judy Waldron said. "The day after he was drafted, his best friend was killed in Vietnam. It was almost that he wanted to get over there."

It was in New Hyde Park that Waldron began his decades-long career as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, Judy Waldron said. He also served in the Deer Park Fire Department before moving to the Wyandanch Volunteer Fire Company, where he served as chief in 1999 and 2000.

Jack Miller, ex-chief and vice president of the Wyandanch department, described Waldron as a loyal firefighter. "His dedication to the job was unbelievable," Miller said. "I never remember him missing a call."

Waldron began working at Newsday in 1981 as a maintenance mechanic, and retired as a building maintenance foreman at the end of 2004. But he couldn't stay idle for long, his wife said. Waldron became a security guard at the Deer Park school district.

It was in July 2009 while driving home for lunch that he saw a car accident down the road from his house. A young man driving a sedan had crashed into a tree, and was trapped inside the burning car. Waldron pulled the man from the car, and later received the Suffolk County Silver Medal of Valor for the rescue.

In addition to his wife, survivors include daughters Denise Valerioti of Oakdale and Irene Waldron of Deer Park; son Billy Waldron of Deer Park; brothers Tom Waldron of Brentwood and Edward Waldron of New Hyde Park; sister Elaine Sipperley of Florida; and four grandchildren. Another son, Kenneth Waldron, died in 1970.

A wake will be held at the Claude R. Boyd/Caratozzolo Funeral Home in Deer Park tomorrow and Sunday, 2 to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m. A funeral Mass will be offered at St. Cyril and Methodius church in Deer Park at 10:15 a.m. Monday. Waldron will be buried at Pinelawn Memorial Park.