Earlier this week, Life Member of Croton Fire Patrol No. 1 Charlie O'Connor passed away unexpectedly at home. He would have been 88 this upcoming Friday.

Charlie joined the department in 1993, at an age when many people his age begin enjoying their retirement and slowing down. He joined Fire Patrol as a "Medic," with the intention of being a part of our EMS unit.

In January 1994, he took the NYS Certified First Responder course, and soon after completed the EMT-Basic, then EMT-Intermediate programs. Being Croton was only a BLS service, he eventually joined Ossining VAC where he could better use the skills he learned in the EMT-I course. Over the next 18 or so years, Charlie answered several thousand calls with Croton and Ossining, and became a regular fixture in both communities - as well as the EMS community in Westchester.

Charlie was a key part and founding member of Croton EMS, the new agency formed in 2008 when Croton Fire parted ways with providing EMS. He continued his membership with the CFD as well as his activities with the new Croton EMS and Ossining EMS, where he eventually became a member of their Board of Directors.

In March of 2012, Charlie suffered a stroke. In his typical, determined - perhaps stubborn -way, he still walked out to the waiting ambulance, despite having difficulty speaking. I remember asking him is he was OK, and he gave me a thumbs up.

After the stroke, Charlie continued to be a part of all of the organizations he had dedicated so much to. He would stop by, attend meetings and keep tabs on things. I, and others from the CFD/CEMS/OVAC, would also see him almost every day at New York Sports Club getting in his daily dose of exercise. He still wanted to know what was going on and you could tell he truly missed being able to be a part of the calls he no longer could answer.

Charlie O'Connor truly epitomized what it means to be a volunteer. Many times he would drop what he was doing - whether it was baking muffins, working on his garden or spending time with his loving, understanding wife Eileen, to respond to someone's emergency.

You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten. Thank you for your years of service, and for being a great friend, mentor and teacher. Rest easy, Charlie, we'll get it from here.

Thank you to Croton EMS, Ossining EMS and Ossining FD for their help sending Charlie home.