A summer resident who served as an Edgecomb volunteer fireman will be remembered as someone with a knack for making the seemingly impossible task, possible.

“He was a real go-getter,” Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter said about Captain Steve Fenton. “He used his experience as a businessman and fireman in New Jersey to help out our department. He was a big man with a big heart,” Potter said.

Fenton, 77, of Verona, New Jersey died April 19 due to coronavirus complications. He made Edgecomb his summer home for 21 years and joined the local fire department in 2010. He owned Fenton Contracting from 1965 to 2005 in Verona, New Jersey. He also served on his hometown’s fire department from 1967 to 1974 and as rescue squad captain from 1968 to 1980.

In 2009, Fenton contacted Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter, who was in his first year leading the department. Fenton had previously assisted the department in acquiring a used LaFrance pumper truck when Barry Johnston was chief. Fenton saw an old LaFrance pumper truck parked outside the station for days and inquired about the truck’s status. Potter told him the truck’s starter had fallen apart and the department’s efforts to find a replacement had failed. Potter told him the starter was in pieces and beyond repair. “He told me to send it to him anyway, so I did. He received it by mail at 9:30 a.m. and by 4:30 p.m. he found a replacement. Steve was a guy who had a knack for finding equipment. It seems he knew everybody, and everybody knew him,” Potter said. 

Shortly after their initial conversation, Potter and Fenton became friends. Fenton joined the department in 2010 and, by 2013, Potter appointed him to fill the vacant equipment captain position. Fenton was elected to it in 2014, and remained in it until his death. During his tenure, Fenton assisted in acquiring 10 used vehicles for Edgecomb Fire Department. “When we met, we became friends and it was like we’d known each other for years,” Potter said. 

Fenton died at the Firemen’s Home in Boonton, New Jersey. He was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and moved to Verona, New Jersey in 1965. He served in the Verona Kiwanis and as the chapter’s vice president.

In 2013, the town of Edgecomb honored Fenton for his contributions. Fenton was credited with finding hoses, barricades, the Chevy Tahoe and three fire engines. The equipment was often delivered either by Fenton or one of his New Jersey friends. During a May 2013 ceremony, the town proclamation read: “Steve’s generosity must be contagious down in New Jersey because his close friends down there, John D’Asensio, Michael Grasso and Richard Maly and many others have donated their time and materials with everything from getting the trucks ready for the trip to Maine to installing the lights and the lettering on most of the trucks you see at the station today. The most precious donation that Steve has given the town of Edgecomb is his knowledge. With his many years of experience on a fire department in a city, there is nothing that can catch him off guard. Steve donates his time generously to the EFD and has been recently promoted to Equipment Captain on the department. Steve has always said, ‘Nothing is impossible, the impossible just may take a little longer.’”

Private family services were held. Edgecomb Fire Department plans on holding a celebration of Fenton’s life later this summer when the family returns to Edgecomb. “Definitely want to do something to honor Steve because he was a big part of what we are today,” Potter said.