RFD bids a sad farewell to veteran firefighter

The Riverhead Fire Department laid to rest 44-year veteran Joseph Kaelin today, the 71-year-old lifelong resident having passed away October 23 from complications due to chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

A procession of trucks and firefighters rolled past Kaelin’s  fire gear set up in a chair in the firehouse parking lot. Kaelin’s coffin was carried to St. John’s Church by a fire truck, passing beneath a massive American flag hung from two ladders.

Members of the Hampton Bays and Mattituck fire department attended and flew the flag.

Chief Joe Raynor called Kaelin a dedicated fireman and good person who will be sorely missed.

“He made the department better,” Raynor said.

First Assistant Chief Kevin Brooks said Kaelin worked with the department’s fire prevention committee and was “big into the social side of the department.” Brooks said he was a great cook who always had something to say about what people were having for lunch.

“‘What’re you eating there, boy? That’s a big sandwich you got there, boy. What’d that cost ya, boy?’ That kinda thing,” Brooks recalled.

He said Kaelin lived in the same house on Hallock Street his entire life. He was company captain during one of the longest mutual aid operations in the department’s history, when Buffalo was snowed in in 1977 and he and his crew flew there to man a brush truck that could get through the snow.

He loved his scratch-off lottery tickets and trips to Cancun, where he purchased a timeshare 30 years ago. It expired this year, Brooks said.

“He waited till he got his money’s worth.”

Editor’s note: Peter Blasl contributed reporting for this story.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl

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