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Remembering
Gerald A. Machajewski
Cambria Volunteer Fire Company — New York
Classification: Volunteer
Rank: Firefighter
Date of Death: May 21, 2006
Age: 62
Gerald A. Machajewski suffered a fatal
heart attack on Sunday, May 21,
2006, while helping victims of a
three vehicle crash on Saunders
Settlement Road in Cambria,
New York. Mr. Machajewski
was pronounced dead on
arrival at Lockport Memorial
Hospital, Lockport, New
York. He was 62.
Howard Morgan, Cambria
fire company president,
said Mr. Machajewski
joined the department
eight months ago after
he moved to Cambria,
New York from Lockport,
New York. Mr. Morgan,
who also is the Cambria fire
department chaplain, said the
death has hit the department
hard. “When you go down in
the line of duty, it is very unique.
We told his wife that they are part of
a bigger family,” Mr. Morgan said. Mr.
Machajewski was working “scene support,” a
new program of less-strenuous activities designed
specifically for older volunteers. He was talking
to the crash victims—teens with minor injuries—
because he was “so good with kids,” Mr. Morgan
said. He collapsed as he helped one of the victims
into an ambulance.
Mr. Machajewski had long been active in community
service, recently working with the Erie County
Community Emergency Response Team program
and then helping Niagara County
develop its own program. Its volunteers
are called upon to coordinate
services in the event of a
disaster.
The Buffalo, New York,
native was a graduate of
Erie Community College
in Williamsville, New
York, and Fredonia State
College in Fredonia,
New York. He worked as
a manufacturing chemist
for Delphi Thermal
Systems in Lockport,
New York, for more than
20 years, retiring in 2001.
Mr. Machajewski was a
member of the Harrison G-9
Group, Buffalo Choral Arts
Society, and Chopin Singing
Society. He enjoyed drum and bugle
corps and was a fan of the Madison
Scouts Drum Corps. He was a Boy Scout
Leader for Troop 4 at St. John the Baptist Church in
Lockport, New York, for several years.
His first wife, Nancy Gawrys Machajewski, died in
1983. He and his wife, the former Mary S. Neary,
would have celebrated their 20th anniversary on
May 23, 2006. Survivors also include a son, Erick,
of Lockport, New York, and a sister, Veronica
Szalasny, of Delevan, New York.