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Robert A. Lincoln, Sr.
was elected a member of the Vigilant Engine and Hook &
Ladder Company, Inc. on February 3, 1936, serving as
an
active firefighter through his late 70’s.
Mr. Lincoln resided in
Great Neck since 1928, when he moved from Hingham,
Massachusetts. He served in the Army with the 175th
Engineers in Africa and Italy during World War II,
retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
During his 58 years as a
member of the Vigilant Engine and Hook & Ladder Company,
Inc., Mr. Lincoln served in the following capacities:
Assistant Chief, Captain, Treasurer, Trustee, and
President of the Vigilant Volunteer Exempt Firemen’s
Benevolent Association, Inc. He was also a member of
the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, the
Nassau County Firemen’s Association and charter member
of the Eighth Battalion. He remained active well into
his 75th year. He was involved with many
“Firsts”: Purchase of the first Vigilant ambulance;
purchase of the first floodlight truck and the purchase
of the first aerial ladder. These many “Firsts” enabled
the Vigilant Fire Company to better serve the
community. A highlight and proud moment, was during his
early Vigilant career, when he served as Assistant Chief
in the late 1930s for the Signal 10 at the Windsor
Apartments at 21 Barstow Road. In addition to
neighboring departments, mutual-aid from Glen Cove,
Hempstead, and New York City assisted at that fire.
Mr. Lincoln earned his
engineering degree at Massachusetts Agricultural College
(now U-Mass). When he first came to Great Neck he
worked for the Grace Family as their landscape foreman.
During the 1930s he worked on various projects including
the Triboro Bridge and the 1939 World’s Fair as an
engineer.
He supervised the construction of the Belgrave Sewer District.
He was a member of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars and he proudly marched each
year in the Great Neck Memorial Day Parade. In 1942
while stationed at Mitchell Field he brought Army tanks
to the Memorial Day Parade in Great Neck.
As late as
Memorial Day 1993 he watched the parade from
his
wheelchair and saluted every time the American Flag went
by.
After World War II Mr.
Lincoln was a partner in Clinton-Bogert Engineers.
Later he became a partner in Manganaro-Martin-Lincoln,
and worked as a consulting engineer on the Nassau County
Sewer Plant project. During the 50s and 60s he was a
building inspector for the Village of Kings Point; he
continued as their engineer until
the late 1980s. He
was also village engineer for the
Villages of Great
Neck, Saddle Rock and Kensington.
The Lincoln family has
proudly served the volunteer firematic community for
more than 12 generations dating back to Colonial days.
In the early 1970s Mr. Lincoln was the founding of an
elite group of Vigilant firefighters known as “Hose
One”.
Mr. Lincoln was a
“Friend” to all the members of the fire company. He was
a true “Vigilant” and will be remembered for his
untiring efforts as project engineer for the
expansion of headquarters in 1979.
He is survived by his
wife of 61 years, Dorothy (nee: Potts), son Robert A.
Jr. and three sisters Lucy Hodgdon, Mary Bates and Ruth
Blair. He is also survived by
four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
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