Fred Roth, former Seaford fire chief and hamlet historian, dies at 97

When Frederick "Fred" Roth came home one day and left again minutes later, a visitor asked where he was headed. His daughter, then a toddler, had an answer: Dad was going home — to the Seaford firehouse.

"That was our extended family growing up as kids," said his daughter Ann Holland, describing the dozens of firefighters and their wives whom she and her sister considered family.

Roth, a former Seaford fire chief and longtime fire commissioner who became an authority on the hamlet’s history, died Nov. 9 of pneumonia after a six-year battle with mesothelioma. He was 97.

A lifetime of service

Born Aug. 12, 1929, Roth grew up in Ridgewood, Queens, but spent childhood summers fishing in Seaford and working at a local boatyard. After his family moved there, he joined the Seaford Volunteer Fire Department in 1948.

During his 78 years with the department, Roth served two years as chief and 38 years as a fire commissioner. Holland said he helped guide the department through change, including construction of a new firehouse across from the old headquarters.

Bob Powell, a Seaford firefighter and longtime family friend, described Roth as a no-nonsense leader who understood the demands of managing volunteers.

"He was the type of person that could get the best out of you," Powell said.

A Navy Seabee during the Korean War, Roth worked as a union plumber and later spent 25 years as a Town of Hempstead plumbing inspector, while maintaining his volunteer commitment. His involvement with the department continued into his early 90s, when he still reported to the firehouse for emergency calls, Holland said.

Preserving Seaford’s past

At department meetings, Roth also shared another lifelong interest: the history of Seaford, Powell said. Known to members as the department’s "unofficial historian," he brought old photographs and accounts of vanished landmarks to department meetings, drawing on his memories and stories told to him by earlier generations of firefighters

His knowledge reached a wider audience through presentations at the Seaford Public Library and the Seaford Historical Society. For a talk about High Hill Beach, a vanished seaside colony near Jones Beach, he prepared a trifold display of photographs and descriptions, explaining how residents lived and ferries carried visitors there.

"We were aware of the existence of High Hill Beach, but we certainly didn’t have the knowledge of how the community worked," said Judy Bongiovi, the society’s president. "He had the details to fill in that a lot of us didn’t know."

The society’s museum, housed in the department’s former firehouse, still displays a wooden fire plug Roth unearthed while working near the Nassau Coliseum.

Beyond the firehouse

The bay remained an important part of his life. Roth fished, clammed and crabbed in local waters, Powell said. On summer Sundays, he joined other firefighter families who tied their boats together at Zach’s Bay in Jones Beach State Park, sharing food and ferrying passengers ashore to swim, Holland recalled.

For the Roths, the fire department was woven into family life. When the fire whistle sounded, Barbara used the family's party line to alert firefighters too far away to hear it, Holland recalled. His daughter Kathryn Faass remembered waking at 3 a.m. to accompany her mother to the firehouse to make coffee and doughnuts for crews answering calls.

"It was just amazing to me how all types of individuals with their children came together to help our town in an hour of horrific events to simply help and lend a hand," she said. "It was a community effort, and it was great to be a part of it."

Roth is survived by his daughters, Ann Holland, of Royersford, Pennsylvania, and Kathryn Faass, of Edgecomb, Maine; and grandchildren Michael Holland, Matthew Holland and Culver Faass. He was predeceased by his wife of 71 years, Barbara Roth, and granddaughter Bethany Gresh.

Visitation is Sunday, 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the Seaford firehouse, with a department service at 8 p.m. A funeral service is Monday at 10:45 a.m. at the firehouse, 2170 Southard Ave., Seaford, followed by burial at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale.