One of Richard “Denny” Creitz’s wishes was that his last ride would be aboard a Nesquehoning Fire Company truck.

“We will do that for him,” said Nesquehoning Hose Company fire chief John McArdle.

Creitz, captain of the Nesquehoning Fire Police, died Friday. He will be laid to rest Thursday. After services, he’ll be taken by his fire company brothers and sisters to the Slovak Protestant Cemetery in the borough’s east end.

“He will be missed,” McArdle admitted.

Creitz volunteered for more than 50 years with the Nesquehoning Fire Company. First, as a firefighter, and then as a fire policeman.

But that wasn’t all. Creitz was a businessman, local historian, public servant and volunteer for other causes.

“Denny was one of the ones really responsible for the Nesquehoning Hose Company being moved to where we are now,” at 953 E. Catawissa St., McArdle said.

The company’s previous home, a 1908 two-bay garage at Center and School streets, had become much too small.

“We outgrew the building. You had to walk sideways to go between the firetrucks,” McArdle said.

Creitz did some research and found the current site, a former roadside rest area. It had been owned by the state but because it wasn’t being used anymore, the state relinquished ownership to the borough. There were limitations on the property’s use - and a fire company wasn’t permitted, McArdle said.

Creitz worked with a local attorney to draw up paperwork to allow an emergency services building.

The fire company dedicated the “new” headquarters in 1998.

Creitz used to cut the grass on the property and help with general maintenance.

McArdle also remembered how each time the company ordered a new truck from Kovatch in Nesquehoning, Creitz watched the assembly lines.

“During the days they were working on them, he would go there and take pictures. He would log the photos,” McArdle said. “We always joked that he had a lot of time on his hands.”

A history buff, Creitz put together an extensive website for the fire company (http://nesquehoninghosecompany.com), as well as a website on the history of the borough (www.nesquehoing.us).

“He spent 10 years or more researching the back history of the fire company and the town. He spent so much time at the library in Jim Thorpe,” McArdle said.

He also collected old photos for calendars to benefit the fire police. Folks would drop off photos or he’d find them and reproduce them. He assembled his first calendars by hand. Later, he would use a computer.

He owned and operated Creitz’s Tune Up Service in Nesquehoning since 1972, where he did mechanical work and towing. He was also a member of the Nesquehoning Water Authority.

Creitz was named the 2008 Nesquehoning Fireman of the Year.

His obituary appears on Page 4.