Last week, the Livingston Fire Department lost Frank Leck, its longest active member since Charlie Schilling’s passing nearly four years ago. At the time of his death on October 18, Mr. Leck had been serving with the LFD for 64 years, and was an active member up to the day he died. His loss hurts not only the Fire Department, but the entire community, and marks the end of an era.
Mr. Leck joined the Fire Department in August of 1959, at the age of 17. He became a full firefighter in 1963, and was assigned to the Northfield Station. Over the decades, he rose through the ranks, from firefighter to Warden (a position which no longer exists), Lieutenant, and Captain, and was Deputy Fire Chief from 1997 to 1999.
He was elected captain of the LFD Rescue Company 15 times, and with very good reason: He was the Department’s “goto guy” when it came to rescues. “When I think of Frank, I think of the rescue truck,” said Fire Chief Chris Mullin. “He was our rescue guy. He knew the rescue truck, its tools, and its equipment, inside out.” Chief Mullin recalled that, during an emergency, the firefighter who is geographically closest is to report to the scene. Then-Fire Chief Schilling, however, had mandated that Leck be called out, no matter where he was. Mr. Leck, for his part, was instructed that, in an emergency rescue, he was to report to the Northfield Station and “get that truck rolling.”
Mr. Leck trained a lot of firefighters, especially in rescue technique and use of the department’s rescue equipment. He was also a beloved mentor to generations of younger colleagues.
A plumber by trade, he is remembered for his strong work ethic. “Frank had a work ethic you don’t often see anymore, both as a plumber and as a firefighter,” Chief Mullin said. This work ethic included reporting for work or firefighting duty just days after breaking bones and, of course, running out of the house at all hours of the day and night to answer calls. In addition to lauding Mr. Leck, Chief Mullin also praised his wife, Linda, for “putting up with six decades of our calling her husband away from who knows how many holidays and family gatherings. They were both a very big part of this department.”
Former Tribune editor and publisher Kit Cone remembers him most as an exceptional backhoe operator. Cone said, “The saying among those who knew his ability with, for example, uncovering a broken water main, had two praises that I remember: ‘Frank could make a cake with his machine,’ and ‘Frank could deliver a baby in a ten foot deep trench with his backhoe.’” Frank Leck was many things to many people in Livingston: husband, father, grandfather, friend, mentor, rescuer. His loss will reverberate throughout the community for years to come. As Fire Chief Mullin noted, “He was the epitome of a volunteer firefighter.”
We could not could ask for a more appropriate epithet for such a dedicated man.
