'He Enjoyed Helping The Community': LI Patriarch, Who Started Family Tradition Of Firefighting, Dies At 80

MASTIC, NY — Rudolph Sunderman Sr. joined the Mastic Fire Department in 1965, and served in various roles, including chief, then commissioner for 37 years up until his death on Sept. 10. In his time in the fire service, he witnessed the aftermath of Sunrise Wildfires of 2005, then the following year, the TWA Flight 800 disaster, and the World Trade Center terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

His son, Rudolph Sunderman, Jr., who serves as Suffolk County's commissioner of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services, said he missed how he always had the opportunity to ask his father a question about fire and Emergency Medical Services from his life experience.

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"I still made my own decisions, but it was always nice to be able to ask my father the question, right?" he said. "I get upset talking about it because I really miss that."

The father and son would regularly be in the commissioner's room at the Mastic firehouse, working on projects together.

"If I was doing a press project or a press conference, he would ask me, 'What press conference you doing today?' And, I would tell him what I was doing, and then he was excited to see me later in the newspaper, or at the press conference," his son explained. "He would watch it on the news, and I was able to share those opportunities, and it's something that I really miss."

Sunderman, 80, was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, and then moved out to Mastic in 1962. In his day job, he was a Long Island Rail Road conductor until retiring in the 90s. He was married for 44 years to his wife, Helen, and had five children, 11 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

His death was not expected and was due to a cardiac-related event that took him five days later at NYU Langone Hospital - Suffolk in East Patchogue, according to his son.

Sunderman joined the fire department because, he told his son, he enjoyed helping the community. He spent 62 years in the fire service, having worked his way up the ranks, first serving as assistant chief in 1976, and then chief in 1977.

"It was just something he wanted to do," his son said.

He was reelected three years ago to the post of fire commissioner, and could have been the longest-serving fire commissioner in Suffolk, according to his son.

"They make the financial decisions for the taxpayers and the residents," he said, adding that they also purchase equipment and help provide the education and training.

Sunderman also served as past chief of the Mastic Volunteer Ambulance Company in the 70s and 80s. He also served in the Mastic Park Civic Association.

"He was very dedicated to the Mastic community," he said.

He was one of the drivers of a rescue truck on 9/11, and spent half a day down at "the pile."

"He was just really caring about the fire department," he said. "He always cared about the fire district, and you know, it's a loss to me as a family member and my family. We're just so hurt about it. It makes me upset, not being able to have him still here."

His father is the reason that he and his son, his grandson, Rudolph, joined the fire department.

"It's a family tradition," he said, adding that his brothers, uncles, and cousins are all in the fire department. Both his stepmother, and his wife, are past presidents of the women's auxiliary, and his daughter is the current president.

"It's a family thing," he said. "I don't know how to explain it, but the family is truly community supportive. We enjoy supporting the community."

Despite his family's legacy, originally, his grandson didn't want to join the fire department when he was between 16 and 17 years old, but after looking back and seeing his father and grandfather do a lot of work with the community and give back so much, it really made him want to, he said.

Sunderman, 27, who is now chief of the fire department, described his grandfather as "very good" to him, saying that they always got along. He would mess around with him, saying he was a better chief when he was chief in 1976, "and things were better."

"And, you know, that was our conversation," said Sunderman. "Like, he liked to joke, and he was always there. If I needed something, he would be there to help."

His grandfather was always just one call away if he needed something or had a question.

"There were never any problems," he added.

If there was a working fire at 3 a.m., he would be out getting coffee and donuts, or 12 in the afternoon, sandwiches.

"No matter what it was, he would be there, helping the members and making sure everybody got what they needed," he said, adding that he was very big on making sure the firehouse was in tip-top shape.

"My grandpa was a very good man," he said. "He was always funny. He loved to joke around; always, worked hard. I'd say probably two weeks ago he was still coming up to the firehouse and doing things."

The biggest thing about Sunderman that should be remembered is his 62 years of dedication and hard work, "on top of working and having a family," his grandson said.

"He was always working hard, even when he was sick," he said. "I think that the biggest takeaway is that hard work is always needed and should be done by everybody, no matter what."

His dedication went beyond the fire department, his son said.

Sunderman would have been at the Sept. 16 meeting of the Mastic Park Civic Association at the firehouse where an important meeting on traffic mitigation in the area was held.

The civic's president, John Scicignano, called the Sunderman patriarch "a great guy," who belonged to the organization for "many, many years, 30 years or so."

"He's dearly going to be missed," he said. "He always went out of his way to help people, so, yeah, we're going to miss him."

That community spirit espoused the service of a volunteer firefighter.

His son explained that at the end of the day, a volunteer fire department "plays an intricate role in the community."

"I think that's what not only we love as a family, but every member that's in that fire department really believes in helping their community day in and day out. You know whether we're doing a fire information event, whether we're at a community event tomorrow as a touchy truck, and that's what we do," he said. "We like giving back to the community."