Contributed by: CBrining
Harold “Whitey” Swartz, a long-time Atlantic County firefighter, historian, photographer and collector, died Thursday. He was 80 years old. He had been hospitalized in the past week with an infection, according to family.
Swartz spent 56 years as a member of the Atlantic County firefighting community including 31 years with the Pleasantville fire department and 24 years as the Atlantic County Fire Marshal. During that time he became well-known for his work in the community, his photography and dedication to preserving firefighting history.
“He was my fire marshal,” Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said. “You’ll rarely find someone that has such incredible dedication, he’ll be sadly missed.”
“If you’re over 40 years old and graduated eighth grade from a public school in Atlantic County, if you look on the back of your photograph it likely has a stamp that says Whitey Swartz,” Swartz’ son, Harold Swartz Jr. said.
Firefighting was Swartz’s passion. He was born near a fire house in Pleasantville in 1936 and from the time he was 11, spent most of his life in and around firehouses. It was at that first firehouse his shock of white hair earned him the lifelong nickname, ‘Whitey’.
After serving in the U.S. Army he joined the Pleasantville fire department as a volunteer in 1958. In 1960 he was hired as a fulltime firefighter and rose to the rank of deputy chief before retiring in 1989.
In 1990 Swartz joined the Atlantic County Fire Marshal’s office and was named fire marshal the next year. In that role he helped create the Anthony Canale Training Center in Egg Harbor Township, which centralized training for all firefighters in the county for the first time.
“He felt it was a necessity, rather than send our firefighters all over the state,” Levinson said.
He also started the Valor Awards and 50-year service award programs to honor those who dedicated large parts of their lives to public service.
His dedication to all things firefighting bloomed in to the Firefighters Museum of Southern New Jersey, one of the most extensive collections of firefighting equipment in the state. His collection includes the first Atlantic City firetruck.
The first iteration of the museum, a garage next to his house in Pleasantville, opened in 1972 with a 1929 Pleasantville firetruck that he stripped down and rebuilt himself. In 2004, it was moved next to Swartz's home in Galloway Township. Together, with his wife Joy, they entertained groups from around the country who traveled to his home to view the collection.
Swartz married Joy in 1959 after dating for five years. She became his partner in all his endeavors, including his second passion, photography.
If there was a fire or a car accident in Atlantic County, Swartz was likely there with his camera. Right behind him was Joy with their three sons. He built a darkroom in the basement of his Pleasantville home and police departments around the county called him to photograph their crime scenes.
And when he wasn’t working or at a scene Swartz was shooting weddings, 8th grade graduations and more.
Swartz’ dedication to public service didn’t end there. He visited schools to explain fire safety and became well known for a model train set he built in his basement. Swartz’s son, Harold Jr. recalled coming home and seeing a line of people on his basement steps, waiting to see his father’s train show.
“He felt that it was important to keep this type of history alive,” he said.
Swartz is survived by his wife, Joy, three sons, Robert, Matthew and Harold Jr., nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Services will be held next week at St. Mark and All Saints Church in Galloway. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
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