Lehigh County once again has honored its Unsung Heroes, residents who display exceptional generosity with their time and talents for the benefit of their communities.

Dennis L. Snyder

"Never ask anyone to do anything you would not do yourself" and "Always ask your volunteers if they are willing to do what you ask. Never give them demands."

These are the words of wisdom Snyder lived by during his 50 years of service to the volunteer New Tripoli Fire Company between 1962 and 2012.

By age 15, Snyder was a junior firefighter.

During his senior year in high school, he began driving fire vehicles in response to emergency calls.

His background working with his dad, Lester, in both farming and trucking contributed to his ease around emergency equipment.

His mother, Eleanor, was always a supporter and she herself became involved in emergency services as a volunteer with the Northwestern Ambulance Corps.

Snyder was always available when there was an alarm calling for volunteer firefighters.

He juggled firefighting with self-employment, as a truck driver, and husband and father of three children.

His dedication was rewarded with service as a member of the fire company's board of directors, the board of governors, assistant fire chief and 18 years as chief.

During his time as fire chief, an almost totally agricultural area was transformed by residential developments and more vehicular traffic.

His crew of 30 volunteers responded to an average of 100 calls per year.

These included motor vehicle accidents, house and structure fires, and rapidly spreading forest fires in Lynn and surrounding townships and counties.

While chief, the New Tripoli Fire Company had two pumpers, a brush truck, tanker and a team of fire police.

Snyder's son, Toby, followed in his footsteps as a junior firefighter and later as chief engineer for the fire company.

Several years ago, Snyder relinquished his leadership role after 50 years of volunteer service with the New Tripoli Fire Company, and passed the torch to the younger generation.

It is understood his work ethic and practical words of wisdom will continue to pass from generation to generation, thereby keeping the fire company, which he so loved, viable for many decades to come.

Northwestern

Ambulance Corps

In the words of Leroy Bogert Sr., the laying of the groundwork for the Northwestern Ambulance Corps didn't start as a dream, but rather as the result of a nightmare accident near his home when it took more than 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the scene.

Encouraged by Dr. Martens at the recently established Northwestern Medical Center, Bogert reached out to a handful of residents who circulated the area to measure interest in developing a local ambulance corps.

Finding overwhelming support, volunteers joined this mission in 1970 by taking first aid and CPR training, meeting state requirements and securing funding for startup equipment, all part of the groundwork to become chartered as the Northwestern Ambulance Corps, with Bogert as founder and first president.

The first official ambulance run took place on Jan. 1, 1971.

Two ambulances, a 1962 Cadillac and a 1957 Mercury, were purchased and housed in a rented garage.

After extensive fundraising, a former flower shop along Route 309 was purchased to house the equipment and provide needed operational space.

During this time, five people received emergency calls in their own homes, pre-dating dispatch from the Lehigh County Communications Center.

This dedicated core of volunteers fulfilled every role in order to bring basic life support service and transport to their 100-square-mile area serving five townships.

In addition to required training and fundraising, these volunteers operated emergency vehicles; served as dispatchers; attended to the business and medical billing; and most important, gave their hearts to the welfare of their community.

To their credit the ambulance corps always operated on fundraising, subscriptions, donations and service reimbursement; all at no cost to the townships they served.

Over the decades, volunteers continued to upgrade their training, They acquired a modern fleet of three ambulances and a rescue vehicle, and employed up to 25 part-time paramedics by 2005.

As with many organizations which have relied on volunteers for decades, in the last few years their numbers began to diminish.

The ambulance corps faced a struggling economy and reduced medical insurance reimbursements.

Soon, itwas necessary to issue a plea to local residents and local governments for financial assistance.

While many subscribers and businesses heeded the call, the last day of service was Feb. 13, 2015.

Honored as Unsung Heroes for giving 38 or more years of dedicated service to the Northwestern Ambulance Corps were:

Barbara M. Rauch of New Tripoli. She served as dispatcher, vice president, board member and on the ladies auxiliary, for a total of 44 years of service.

Arlene Rex of Germansville served as dispatcher, current vice president and board member, for 44 years of service

Eleanor Snyder of New Tripoli,served as vice president, director of training, secretary, dispatcher and board member, also for 44 years of service.

Larry Hartman of Germansville served as an EMT, board member and board president for 14 years, for a total of 43 years of service

Dennis Hartman of New Tripoli, served 38 years as an EMT for a total of 38 years of service

Several of these community servants also have decades of dual service with the local fire company.

Eleanor Snyder had with 60 years at the New Tripoli Fire Company.

Dennis Hartman served as firefighter for 42 years at the Germansville Fire Company and now at New Tripoli Fire Company.

Larry Hartman served 20 years at the Germansville Fire Company, including eight years as president; and Arlene Rex with 20 years consistory at Heidelberg Church and 12 years in the kitchen at Slatedale Fire Company.

As one "nightmare evening" illustrated a crucial need in their community, these men and women stepped out of their comfort zone to volunteer and heed the call.

These five volunteers with the Northwestern Ambulance Corps represent a total of 213 years of community service.

Joanne Heinrich

Heinrich of Allentown has worked for Lehigh County since 1998 and has worked part-time at Lehigh County Jail Treatment.

She dedicates extra hours to DARE, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program as well.

Her life has been dedicated to helping those who struggle. Heinrich makes time to get to know people and listens attentively to their stories.

The men she has counseled contributed to her bio with comments such as "Joanne saved my life", "Joanne is the most positive influence in my life."

Robert Seibert

Seibert of Allentown has volunteered at Phoebe Home for 14 years, playing his Boomba, singing and dancing into the hearts of all.

He also dresses up as Santa each year and is instrumental in coordinating Christmas gifts for residents.

Seibert recently wore a T-shirt to Phoebe Home that read, "It's a tough job being Bob, but somebody has to do it."

According to the folks at Phoebe, this is a very fitting statement about Seibert, as only Bob can do all that he does.

Marty Wieczorek

Wieczorek of Schnecks-ville, the youngest of 10 children, learned the importance of hard work at an early age working on his family's farm.

Born March 8, 1937 in Bethlehem, Wieczorek was the youngest of 10 children of Polish immigrants.

Both his parents passed away when Wieczorek was in his early teens, and he was raised by his older siblings.

After school, Wieczorek spent two years in the Navy, returning home to work at Bethlehem Steel for a short time.

He took a job as a milkman before returning to Bethlehem Steel where he worked for more than 20 years. During these years, he and his wife were also busy raising their family, daughter Lorrie and son Michael.

Following his years at Bethlehem Steel, Wieczorek became a sales manager at The Morning Call. After 10 years at the newspaper, he worked as a school bus driver for more than eight years.

He is an outstanding volunteer with Meals on Wheels and has served 2,534 hours logging 14,123 miles.

"The community is truly fortunate to have such an amazing person connected with our program, and we believe he serves as an inspiration to people of all ages," according to Meals on Wheels.

Pat Yost

Yost of South Whitehall Township is a vibrant, happy-go-lucky and caring 87-year-old woman who is very enthusiastic about life, her church, and the community groups with which she participates.

A very caring person, Yost leads the Crafty Disciple Group at Jordan United Church of Christ, South Whitehall, where she has been a member of the congregation for several years.

The group meets weekly and creates many items, including cards that are given to the congregation's "special care" shut-in and hospitalized individuals.

Yost participates in the "Call to Care" Ministry of the church in which shut-ins receive monthly home visits.

Like clockwork, she comes to the church office every week to see who is in the hospital and who could benefit from a visit.

When members of the congregation are facing health challenges, Yost is in the forefront visiting them regularly.

With encouragement and care she does whatever she can to assist these individuals and families.

She is volunteer manager of the Jordan UCC Peace Garden, a project she proudly admits is very close to her heart.

A graduate of Penn State, she loves Penn State football and even drives a blue and white car.