10. William August Mohrbach (1915-1916)
Served 1 Year
William Mohrbach was born June 21, 1883, in Pennsylvania and was the son of Jacob and Priscillia (Schaeffer) Mohrbach. He married Valentina Schnepf in October of 1909 and lived on Woodbury Road. William was a signalman for the Long Island Railroad.
William joined Protection Hook and Ladder Company 1 and served as their secretary in 1913 and 1914 before being elected the 10th Chief in 1915. William never served as Captain and was 1st Assistant Chief in 1914, before ascending to Chief. His Assistant Chiefs were Joseph Ofenloch and Francis Mollitor before they were replaced by Tony Manzolillo and Tony Kasten.
While Chief, he accepted a gift from William Quartitus, former member of the disbanded Citizens Engine Company 3. The gift was a handmade wood replica of the Steamer apparatus. This replica remains in the showcase at Station 1.
After serving as Chief, William went onto be elected as the Department Recording Secretary in 1917. The position of Recording Secretary was a revolving door through 1916. Chief Mohrbach was replaced by Edward Schulter and Lawrence Braun.
In 1916, while serving as Chief, William was selected to serve the Hicksville Athletic Club and the Patriotic Order Sons of America. The purpose of these two committees was to provide comfort and do all in their power to help along those members serving overseas. The members of this comfort committee serving alongside William were Frank Chlumsky; Edward Ruff; Henry G. Eisemann; Clerks, John Puvogel, and Joseph Smith.
His brother-in-law was Henry Schnepf, an Ex-Chief with the Hicksville Fire Department. William and Valentina divorced. He would move to Darby, Pennsylvania where he remarried in 1925 and was employed by the Reading Railway Company. Chief William Mohrbach is listed on the 1950 United States Census living with his second wife Laura in Darby Township, PA. There is no record of his death.
