Randy A. Roberts: FFof the Yearfor2022

Randy A. Robertsjoined the Wilmington Manor Volunteer Fire Company on January 2, 1976. and was elected as President of the Junior Firefighters, a position he held for three years. In 1979, he was selected as Junior Member of the Year for his fundraising efforts. In 1980, he was honored with the Wilmington Manor Fire Company President’s Award for his work renting the hall for functions, and renovating Station 32 so there could be meetings and weddings hosted there. He was parade chairman from 1980 to 1983, navigated the purchase of new uniforms, for the company, performed drills with the Ladies Auxiliary and was instrumental in taking the fire company to parades all over the region. After buying his first house in Collins Park, he tried to continue making fire runs at Wilmington Manor, but the distance was too great, so he joined the Holloway Terrace Fire Company in 1983 and held dual memberships for a few years before devoting his energy just to Holloway Terrace.

He was in the top five responders for fires and ambulance runs for many years. He worked on the assembly room committee (with John Stewart and John Cochran), consistently turning over $20,000 annually from the proceeds of the bar service from hall rentals in the old hall. In 1986, he was chosen by the Holloway Terrace membership as Member of the Year and the Firefighter of the Year.

In the early 1980s, it was recognized that Holloway Terrace didn't have a community park. My dad was friends with Representative Bill Houghton and het proposed a bill to the legislature to establish the land to the south side of Holloway Terrace as parkland, which was quickly approved by the state.

Robertstook on chairmanship of the parade committee and in 1985 managed the purchase of new company uniforms. One of the greatest achievements came in 1990 when he was able to secure the 4th Marine Air Wing Band out of New Orleans, for the DVFAconvention in Bethany Beach and won second place for Best Appearing Delaware Fire Company Marching Unit with Music. He remained parade chairman for many years, motivating members to duplicate the second-place finish 12 times in the next 18 years. Another proud moment came when the Ladies Auxiliary won first prize in 1995 and 1996.

In addition to serving as parade chairman, he served as the assembly room chairman, liaison to the Ladies Auxiliary and a Junior Advisor for many years in the 80s and 90s. He was also on the building committee that developed one of the largest renovation and expansion projects at the fire company. Along with Paul Maxwell back in the mid-1990s he helped organize the 24/7 ambulance service at Station

20, spending many nights sleeping in the pole barn while the building was under construction. He also served as the fire company’s Safety Officer under Chief Paul Maxwell as well as the Holloway Terrace Public Information Officer. He executed the fire company’s fund drive in the 1990s and discovered the poor responses were a result of bad addresses, so for nearly five months, he drove the company van around the the district and manually updated the addresses.

Robertshas served the company as Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President and as a Board of Director. In addition to his love for the fire side of the company, he always had a soft spot in his heart for the ladies auxiliary. He has been the sponsor of the Junior of the Year for the Ladies Auxiliary for the last 10 years and, since 2017, has been a sponsor for the ladies golf at the DVFAconference. In 2021, he wanted to do something special coming out of the pandemic, so he provided a donation to pay for the cost of the entire luncheon at Delaware Park for all of the DVFA Ladies who played golf.

He single-handedly pulled together thousands of pictures, articles and other memorabilia for the Holloway Terrace Fire Company 100th Anniversary Book. He also researched thousands and thousands of pages of newspapers from the 1920s to the present, and downloaded every article involving the company and added them to the company website.

Roberts managed the EMS billing services and increased receipts to the fire company by 40 percent. He attended the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation Memorial weekend several times, serving as an escort to families. At the Holloway Terrace Fire Company banquet in 2022, Roberts was honored with the Member of the Year Award.

He was elected as the 2nd Vice President (1993), 1st Vice President (1994), President (1995) and Director (1996) of the New Castle County Volunteer Firefighter’s Association. (NCCVFA) He served two years as a Director from New Castle County for the Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association (DVFA). When it came time to plan and execute the 75th Anniversary of the NCCVFAin ’96, he served as the chairman of the committee.

Roberts has served on many committees at the county level, was Co-Chair (with Bob Romig) of the very first New Castle County Fire Muster in 1995, then served on the Muster Committee the following year. While President of the NCCVFA, he restarted the previously dormant New Castle County Ambulance Association. During his term as President of the NCCVFA, he filed and won a lawsuit to keep unaffiliated, third-party organizations from soliciting fire and EMS donations in the districts of volunteer fire companies in New Castle County.

In 2021, Robertssolicited his employer (JP Morgan Chase) and successfully obtained a $10,000 contribution to the DVFAto help defray the cost of the conference. He worked closely with DVFAPresident Jay Jones during his two years in office, providing much support. He has also served on the Mutual Relief Association, the DVFARecruitment and Retention, Law and Legislative and DVFA’s 100th Anniversary committee. He’s also a member of the Delaware State Fire Chief’s Association.

Outside of the firehouse, he has served as President of several civic associations, served four years as the Chairman of the Board for New Castle County Head Start, and volunteered for the Ministry of Caring (Catholic Charities). He sits on the Board of Directors for the Eastern Shore Police Association the board of Camp ESPA.

Robertswas a member of the New Castle Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 1578 for 20 years. He spent 20 years in the marketing industry before taking on the role of Deputy Director of Communications and Public Information Officer for the Chester County (PA) Department of Emergency Services. He was instrumental in planning and execution of the Enhanced 911 address matching system. In the 1990s, he was active in the National Emergency Number Association, was a master trainer with APCO (the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials) Institute and with the blessing of then Director Timothy R.S. Campbell of Chester County, developed a nationally accredited Public Safety Training team, the first of its kind in the Public Safety Training community in the US. He was a member of the Chester County Fire Chief’s Association, a member of COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors), and the Chester County Police Chief’s Association.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, he was appointed by Governor John Carney to the Delaware Cemetery Board, an all-volunteer board that oversees the Delaware State grant program that restores and preserves the history of Delaware’s abandoned cemeteries.

He’s worked at JPMorgan Chase since 2000 as the Senior Business Operations Manager of the company’s Direct Mail Marketing operation, overseeing the company’s $800 million annual budget.

- Story by Laura C. Schenk