Steve Johnson, Jim Bryan, Anne Ringlehan Potter and Jim Pacenza surround the new Ringlehan monument after the June 3 ceremony at the Storm King Engine Fire House.
They called him “dang-er.” He was 18 when he joined the Storm King Engine Company. “You couldn’t help but like him,” an older colleague recalled. “He cared about everyone and he loved the fire house.”
Dang-er (Tommy Ringlehan) also loved Pete’s Hot Dogs in the City of Newburgh. He’d place a huge order and finish half of it on his way back to Cornwall-on-Hudson.
On June 12, 1973, he was responding to a mutual aid call at West Point when a collision on Route 218 knocked him off the rear step of the fire truck as it was going around a turn. He was 21 at the time of his death.
On June 3, the fire company unveiled a Thomas M. Ringlehan monument and presented medals of honor to his sisters — Beth Ringlehan Delia and Ann Ringlehan Potter.
A diverse crowd attended the event. Some firefighters remembered Tommy from when they served with him. Others weren’t even born when he lost his life.
Mrs. Potter, speaking on behalf of the family, thanked the fire company and the community for keeping her brother’s memory alive.
Chief Mike Trainor, who served as master of ceremonies, told the crowd about the new company patch. “A distinctive part of this patch,” he said, “is a single star at the top that memorializes Tommy’s legacy in the company. Today these patches are sewn onto the left shoulder of our new turnout gear. Every time our department responds to an alarm the firefighters wearing this gear will have Tommy responding with them and watching over them.”
Deputy Mayor Mark Edsall represented the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. He joined a different fire company (Highland Engine) soon after the accident that claimed Tommy Ringlehan’s life. “You never know what you’re going to run into,” he told the audience on June 3.
Then he referred to the timing of the dedication. “They’re doing this now,” he said. “But they never forgot him. He was always on their minds.”
Participants: Nancy Bryan (invocation), Eric Chatfield (presentation), Mark Edsall (speaker), Fresh Cafe (refreshments), Steve Johnson (speaker), Jim Kline (sound system), Lloyd Neville (speaker), Jim Pacenza (speaker), Eugene Randazzo (landscaping), Charlie Tonneson (benediction), Mike Trainor (emcee).