Former Village Trustee Rudolph Wassmer Dies at 83

Rudolph Wassmer, who had his hands in several New Hyde Park groups, passed away on Dec. 28 in Ascera Care Hospice At Mid-Valley Hospital in Peckville at the age of 83. 

Wassmer worked with his brother Warren at Warren Wassmer Plumbing & Heating in New Hyde Park, explained Rudolph Wassmer's wife of 56 years Marjorie A. Holmes. Rudolph Wassmer worked with his brother for about 15 years and then when his brother retired, Rudolph went out on his own with Rudy Wassmer Plumbing & Heating. 

Wassmer decided to become a plumber to in part follow in his father's and brother's footsteps. His father was plumber in Brooklyn. Wassmer later became part of the Nassau County Joint Board of Plumbing Examiners. He was also a plumbing inspector for the Village.

Of the plumbers in the New Hyde Park area, Holmes said they were all friendly and noted that her husband was good friends with George Sakowich. 

Reid Sakowich, of Sakowich Plumbing & Heating and George's son, noted that Wassmer and his father would get together every Thursday for their Lion's Club meeting which was held in the old New Hyde Park Inn. Holmes and Reid Sakowich's mother, Ethel, were also instrumental in starting the female version of the Lion's Club called the Lionesses, Sakowich said. 

Wassmer became known was the "New Hyde Park washer man" because he would change more washers on faucets in the area than anyone else, Sakowich said. He added that Wassmer and his father George, as well as the other plumbers in the area who Sakowich described as "more friends than competitors", were really focused on the integrity of the plumbing in the area. The plumbers who were around New Hyde Park then were Jimmy Miller, Tony and Manny Alloco as well as George Sakowich and Rudolph Wassmer, Reid Sakowich said.

Sakowich recalls Wassmer as being a "joker" who loved to collect different kinds of knicknacks and antiques. 

Of the people who used to come into Wassmer's plumbing store, where Holmes used to be a bookkeeper, she recalls that they were "wonderful customers."

Holmes met her husband when they were both 14. They met in Pennsylvania in a town near the Poconos where both families had summer homes. 

"Rudy found the good in everyone," Holmes said of her husband, adding, "even though he was in politics in New Hyde Park."

Wassmer was a , Holmes said; Reid Sakowich noted that he was a trustee around the late 1970s, early 1980s. He was also a president of the Lion's Club and took part in the annual for many years, she added. Besides his involvement in those areas, Holmes said Wassmer was active with the Boy Scouts troop 298 based out of at the time and was a manager of a little league team in New Hyde Park too. Wassmer was also active in the Village's bicentennial celebration, where he even made handmade plaques, Sakowich said.

Wassmer left New Hyde Park in 1992 when he retired and moved to Hawley, Pa. There he worked for the Woodlock Pines Spa. 

"He loved it there and they loved him," Holmes said. "He connected with the people well."