A Fight

My Aunt Mildred was married to my dad’s brother, William Price; we called him Uncle William. Quite a few years after my dad died, they were having a plaque made for the chiefs of the Shelter Island Fire Department. One of the five people on the board of commissioners was one of my uncles at the time. My Aunt Mildred was able to see the list, and my dad was not on it. So she mentioned it to the chairman of the board, and his response was, “He was never accepted by the commissioners as a chief.” My aunt then said he was voted in by the men of the department, and the commissioners had a meeting before they found his body or declared him lost at sea. This went back and forth for some time, my aunt told me. I cannot believe that they would do something like this. My aunt did not let this stand, for she knew his name should be on the plaque. All the commissioners were town-elected men from the island; how and why they tried to leave him out was appalling. Eventually, they relented. My Aunt Mildred won the fight for my dad to be listed as a chief.

It was at a Christmas party when she told me this a few years later. She then took me over to the plaque and showed me my dad’s name on it. I just cannot believe that five men, all of whom knew my dad, could resist this. I especially can’t believe that my uncle went along with nor naming my dad as a chief. I never said anything to them about it because it was resolved. My dad was recognized on the plaque, and that will be in the history of the fire department forever.