Conrad Schlauch, a lifelong Hicksville resident and 65-year member of the Hicksville Fire Department's Independent Engine & Hose Company #2, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 8 at North Shore Hospital at Plainview due to complications from congestive heart failure. He was 91 years old.

Mr. Schlauch was born on April 25, 1913. A World War II veteran, Mr. Schlauch served in the Air Force's 8th Engineering Outfit and was stationed in England from 1943 to 1945. On a professional level, he was a roofer and sheet metal worker by trade, putting on many a roof in Hicksville. Dedicated and determined, Mr. Schlauch worked up until he was 78 years old performing tasks that even younger workers had trouble doing.

Mr. Schlauch joined the Hicksville Fire Department in 1939 and witnessed its transition from a small company in what was once rural Hicksville to today's modern force. Over the years, he served on numerous company committees, was a member of the fire police and served as 2nd Lieutenant and Captain of Engine Company #2 during the mid 1940s and early 1950s. In 1989, Mr. Schlauch reached his 50th year of service with the Hicksville Fire Department and was appointed Honorary Chief. He was the recipient of various town, county and state proclamations and on April 15, 2000, former Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta proclaimed the day as "Conrad Schlauch Day."

Mr. Schlauch served 25 years as the Hicksville Fire Department's delegate to the Nassau County Firemen's Association. He was a member of the Southern New York Firemen's Association and the Hicksville Hicks Championship Racing Team during the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a member of the Bug House Hose Company, a fraternal group that entertained parade goers on many occasions dressed in costumes and using floats and old fire engines. To the pleasure of adults and children alike, someone in the crowd always got wet.

"My father's life was one of giving and faithful service to the fire department, his family and the community," said Mr. Schlauch's son, Conrad C. "He will be greatly missed."

A former Triple A baseball player, Mr. Schlauch was once actively involved with the Hicksville Little League serving as both a sponsor and manager. "He always gave back to the community," said his daughter-in-law Kathleen Ritch of Hicksville, adding that he was "quite the player."

"He was really an inspiration. He was a very humble individual and very giving to the community," Ritch said. "For me, it was a pleasure to personally know him, live with him and care for him. He lived a full life and went out the way he lived his life - very actively. It truly was an honor to know and love him."

Brian Anderson, captain of Company #2, said, "He was a great guy who loved the fire department. Up until the very end, he showed up for everything. He never missed a meeting, a function. He was always there." Anderson added, "It's going to be real hard to sit in front of the company for a meeting without him sitting there in front of me. He always sat in the front row. He was a staple of this company."

Mr. Schlauch is predeceased by his wife, Evalyn and is survived by his sister, Helen Schlauch of Hicksville; son Conrad C. Schlauch and his wife Kathleen Ritch of Hicksville and daughter Andrea Schlauch of Syracuse as well as four grandchildren, Jeffrey, Lindsay, Darren and Erica.

Funeral arrangements for Mr. Schlauch were handled by the William E. Law Funeral Home in Massapequa. Fire department services were held on Wednesday at Hicksville headquarters followed by a Mass at Trinity Lutheran Church. Interment was at Plain Lawn Cemetery on Old Country Road in Hicksville. Donations in Mr. Schlauch's name can be made to the State Firemen's Home in Hudson, NY. For more information, call the Hicksville Fire Department at 933-6444.