PARSIPPANY — Lake Parsippany Volunteer Fire Department District 3 dedicated the hall on Sunday, October 7 to “Robert ‘Pinky’ Yeager.”
Robert Keller said “In 1953 firefighting was quite a different animal compared to today. Ladders didn’t go as high. Breathing apparatus was mostly filter makes left over from World War II. Turnout gear was a rubber coat with high rubber boots and helmets were metal … and would turn you into a glow stick if you contacted electric wires.”
Yet in 1953 a young man of twenty years named Robert Yeager – also known as “Pinky” and no one knows for sure where that nickname came from, though some have their suspicions – decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and joined the Lake Parsippany Volunteer Fire Company.
Around the same time, Pinky began working for the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, retiring after serving Parsippany residents for twenty four years.
Pinky has seen scores of men and women pass through the doors of Lake Parsippany Volunteer Fire Department. Some stayed. Many didn’t. But Pinky was one that stayed.
He served as Chief of the fire company in 1959 and 1960. He was then elected Fire Commissioner in 1962 and served until 1976. He was elected again in 1986 and served until this year.
Pinky is certainly one of the most admired and respected members of Lake Parsippany Volunteer Fire Department, and rightfully so. If you know this fire company, you know Pinky Yeager.
“This building (referring to the new fire house) wouldn’t be here today without Pinky’s oversight and guidance during its construction,” said Keller. “If a workman was here, you didn’t have to look far to find Pinky with his watchful eyes.
“Pinky, your brother and sister firefighters wanted to say thank you for your 65 year of service to this fire company, by extension, to the residents of of this community,” said Keller. “We wanted your name to live on long after all of us are gone as a reminder of what loyalty, unselfish service and dedication is supposed to mean,” said Keller.
He continued “For that reason, we dedicate this room in your name so your legacy may live on for years to come.”
