Bill Fridrich was a man who dedicated his life to serving others, whether it was serving his country in the Navy protecting our freedoms, or serving his local community through his membership at both the Sayville Fire Department and the Community Ambulance Company. But Bill was not just a member of Community Ambulance; he was a charter member of our organization. He was a living example of the motto that we operate by every day at Community Ambulance, and that is “neighbors helping neighbors.”

Back in the days before we had our own building, we housed vehicles and responded out of the Sayville Fire Department. Bill, who would spend quite a bit of time there, would meet potential new members, and give them his own “screening process.” If he felt that they were not quite up to being a part of the fire service, he would “suggest” or “recommend” that they consider joining the ambulance company instead. If not for Bill we would not be in existence today.

Back in our first building on Swayze Street in Sayville we had our antennas mounted on top of a large telephone pole in our front parking lot. The reason we had that at all was because of Bill. While working for LILCO, he was able to request a pole be put in place for safety reasons in front of our building to eventually have a street light mounted to it. Coincidentally, the pole went up, but the rest of the paperwork to have the street light placed was never processed, and that left the perfect spot to place our antennas.
Everything we have at Community Ambulance is owed to people like Bill. Each time one of our ambulances responds to be at someone’s side in their darkest hour, that is a testament to Bill’s life, his selfless service, and the amazing organization he helped bring into existence.