Longtime fireman remembered for devotion to community

By: Cara Latham
   SPRINGFIELD — The very last fire call answered by Bob Schetler occurred at about 5:15 a.m. Feb. 28, when he heard a report of an accident in the township.
   As usual, Mr. Schetler, 59, responded, putting that last fire call above everything else.
   This was always the case for the life member, past chief (from 1980 to 1996), and current president of the Jacksonville Fire Company, who died March 4 at the Virtua-Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly from a massive stroke.
   "He was an extremely devoted fireman," said township resident Rosemary Kay, who was Mr. Schetler’s significant other. "He wore a pager, and he answered any and all fire calls as long as he was in the vicinity."
   The fire company, which he had joined in 1971, was just one way Mr. Schetler, who lived in Springfield from 1971 to 1996 and then again since 2003, gave his time for the betterment of the township. He also served on the Planing Board for 14 years, and had many friends in the township.
   And all of those friends recalled Mr. Schetler this week in the same way — he was passionate, devoted, very organized and diligent.
   John Megariotis, a secretary for the Fire Department, said Mr. Schetler was always one of the first ones on the scene, and that he would drive by the firehouse on his way to and from work each day. He would be at the firehouse on weekends, usually in the garage fixing things.
   "If he met someone, he became lifelong friends with them," said Mr. Megariotis.
   Mr. Megariotis, who has been with the Jacksonville Fire Company for a year now, said he learned a lot from Mr. Schetler.
   Councilman Richard Toone knew Mr. Schetler through working with him on the Planning Board, but also through the nature of their jobs.
   "He loved to drive trucks," he said. "He was absolutely in his element driving a tractor-trailer."
   Mr. Schetler was the vice president of safety and purchasing at McCollister’s Moving and Storage truck company for many years, which gave him the responsibility of checking new tractor-trailers before they were purchased and coordinating safety programs they had for their drivers, Mr. Toone said.
   Around the same time, Mr. Toone had worked for a General Motors company that sold diesel trucks, and the two had agreed to go on a drive that would test the new engine made by Mr. Toone’s company before Mr. Schetler would purchase it.
   Each grabbed a tractor-trailer — one with the new engine and one with the current engine — and drove almost to Ohio and back to compare the fuel mileage and power.
   Mr. Schetler also helped with campaigning for Mr. Toone when he was running for office, and he offered to put up signs around the township.
   "Every sign was exactly level and square to the road, and that’s the way Bob did everything," he said.
   Those qualities paid off when it came to his work on the Planning Board and Fire Department, he said.
   During the 1980s, when the board was working on its Master Plan, Mr. Schetler spent an "inordinate" amount of time just on the opening paragraphs alone.
   He called several work sessions at night to make sure the wording was just right, but in the end, the Master Plan kept the rural atmosphere and lifestyle of the township and restricted "big box" development, Mr. Toone said.
   Over the years, the Master Plan has been modified, but "it’s still the backbone of what Springfield Township has and is doing," he said.
   But he also had his private side, Ms. Kay said.
   She and Mr. Schetler became romantically involved four years ago, but had known each other for 30 years, she said. Mr. Schetler had lived in the township for 25 years during his first marriage, but moved out of state for several years.
   When he returned to New Jersey in 2003, he called Ms. Kay, who was widowed, and they began seeing each other.
   "Our friendship was rekindled and blossomed into a romance," she said.
   She and Mr. Schetler — who loved being outdoors — would take trips to Tennessee to visit his daughter, Melanie, and his son-in-law, Kevin; to the Jersey Shore; would go fishing on the jetty on Long Beach Island; and take canoe trips through the Jersey pines, she said.
   "He worked so hard during the week, and on the weekend, he would try to totally get away from work and enjoy nature and to have private time with me," she said.
   Mr. Schetler was actually a certified math teacher, but chose not to follow the profession, she said. He taught for a brief time at Cinnaminson High School, but he chose to go into the trucking business, she said.
   "He was a very, very learned man," she said. He was "very intelligent, a very quick thinker, and he was a jack of all trades. He could just about do anything. And everything he did, he did it well."
   Funeral services for Mr. Schetler were held Saturday at Perinchief Chapels, Mount Holly. Memorial contributions can be sent to Jacksonville Fire Company, 1793 Jacksonville-Jobstown Road, Bordentown NJ 08505.