Chief Ron Pendleton in 2008. (LCN file photo)
Surrounded by loved ones, retired Bristol Fire Chief Ronald E. Pendleton passed away at his New Harbor home on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 22, after a period of ill health.
A lifelong Bristol resident, Pendleton was a family man and a small business owner, but he was best known for his 70-year association with Bristol Fire and Rescue/Samoset Engine Co.
Pendleton’s father Robert Pendleton was among the founders of the Samoset Engine Co. in 1944. Ron Pendleton joined 10 years later, as a 15-year-old high school freshman.
“That’s when we could join, so that’s what I did,” Pendleton told The Lincoln County News in 2018. “I didn’t think much of it, and I’ve been a member ever since.”
Long after he stepped back from an active role in 2009, Pendleton continued to respond to calls and attend to duties around the station as needed. Honored, with his wife Jeri, for 100 combined years of service to Bristol Fire and Rescue in 2018, Ron Pendleton told LCN at the time he had no intentions of stopping.
“There’s no time in sight for us to leave,” he said. “Hopefully we have a lot more days and a lot more calls to go on.”
Graduating from Bristol High School in 1958, Pendleton enlisted in the U.S. Army, spending the majority of his time in Korea. Mustering out as a sergeant in 1962, he returned to Bristol and married his high school sweetheart, Jeraldine “Jeri” Sawyer that same year.
Back in civilian life, Pendleton worked for a time as a barber and later as a bank teller before joining his father-in-law, Kenneth Sawyer, in the plumbing and heating industry.
“He said you handle money every day, why not make some for yourself,” Pendleton told the Lincoln County News in 2018.
He co-owned Samoset Well Drilling with Merrill Holmes, before opening Ronald E. Pendleton Plumbing and Heating Inc. in 1971. Today, Pendleton Plumbing and Heating has more than 1000 customers and is run by two of Pendleton’s three sons, Jared and Brad, both of whom are assistant captains in Bristol Fire & Rescue. Now retired from the Merchant Marine, Pendleton’s oldest son Scott also volunteers with the Bristol department.
Pendleton was best known as a firefighter and emergency responder. Before he succeeded Kenneth Sawyer as chief in 1989, Pendleton served as assistant chief for 27 years. He remained active in retirement.
In 1982, Ron and Jeri were both original members of the Bristol First Responders. Jeri Pendleton is currently the chief of Bristol Emergency Medical Services.
Among his other commitments, Ron Pendleton was a member of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office’s dive team and the Lincoln County Search and Rescue Team. He was a member of the Maine Fire Chiefs Association, the Maine State Federation of Firefighters, and a past president of the Lincoln County Fire Chiefs Association.
The Pendleton family’s history of service to Bristol Fire and Rescue dates back to the department’s first days. From left: Brad, Scott, Jeri, Ron, and Jared Pendleton. (Courtesy photo)
He also served his hometown as a member of the budget committee and as the town’s emergency management director.
Pendleton’s firefighting career extended back to the time before mutual aid and sophisticated turnout gear. Speaking to LCN on the occasion Ron’s retirement as chief, Jeri Pendleton recalled how fire calls used to be dispatched with a siren and a chalkboard.
“At that time, a fire call would come into the chief’s house,” Jeri Pendleton said. “My mother would send me running down to the fire house and I would blow the whistle.”
The number of blasts on the fire whistle told the firefighters the general location of the call, Jeri Pendleton said.
“I would blow the whistle once for New Harbor, two for Pemaquid, three for Round Pond, four for Bristol Mills and five for out of town,” she said. “Then I would go to the chalkboard in front of the station and write down the address of the fire. Firefighters would drive past the firehouse and read the address on the board, and go to the scene. I was six or seven when I started.”
At the time Pendleton stepped down, he was the leader of the Bristol Fire & Rescue Department. Before the department combined, Bristol’s three fire stations functioned more or less like independent departments.
Paul Leeman Jr., Pendleton’s immediate successor as fire chief, gave Pendleton a great deal of credit for bringing Bristol’s three stations together as well as tremendous leadership throughout his career. Among other accomplishments, Pendleton led a capital campaign that modernized and renovated the Round Pond fire station and modernized the Bristol Mills fire station.
In 2009 Pendleton told LCN his proudest memory of his service was the fact all three of Bristol fire stations have running water, bathrooms, and heat.
Pendleton was also the “clerk of the works” overseeing the construction of the New Harbor fire station while running his business and the department at the same time, Leeman said.
“He really brought us into the 20th century,” Leeman said. “I just think he brought Bristol Fire from the old school to the modern times. He tied us together with all the county fire departments, so that we had the same training and that we work together.”
By the time Pendleton stepped down, Lincoln County’s mutual aid system functioned like a well-oiled machine as the county’s volunteer fire departments train together, sharing resources and manpower. Uniform training practices and strict standards have helped rural volunteers raise their skills to the level of many big city professional departments.
In a statement, Damariscotta Fire Chief John Roberts paid tribute to Pendleton’s record of community service.
Ron and Jeri Pendleton were honored by Bristol Fire and Rescue for 100 combined years of service in 2018. The couple was married for 61 years before Ron Pendleton passed away at their New Harbor home Thursday, Aug. 22. (Maia Zewert photo, LCN file)
“Chief Pendleton was a leader of great character and set an example for all of Lincoln County firefighters and fire officers to follow,” Roberts said. “His presence at any emergency scene was always welcomed. The generations of first responders will have a lasting impact and is a testament to his and his wife’s legacy.”
Although he personally never worked closely with Pendleton, Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter said Pendleton was very well known and highly regarded among his peers. Potter, the current president of the Lincoln County Fire Chiefs Association, started his tenure as Edgecomb fire chief the year before Pendleton retired.
At the very first all-chiefs meeting Potter attended in 2008, Pendleton was among the first to congratulate him and wish him well, Potter said.
“He was always there with a kind word,” Potter said. “If I needed to bounce a question off him, he was fine with that. He was one of those people that everybody knew and he would bend over backwards to help anybody out.”
From his personal knowledge Potter said he was aware Pendleton had a hand in the development of the countywide mutual aid emergency response system.
“I know that he was very instrumental in a lot of different programs here in the county,” Potter said “Anytime we would set up new group or something like that he would be the first one to jump right in and do it.”
A celebration of life will be held for Pendleton at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 13 at the New Harbor fire station. Parking will be at Pemaquid Beach, with continuous shuttle service being offered throughout. In lieu of flowers, donations in Pendleton’s memory may be made to Samoset Fire Co., P.O. Box 137, New Harbor, ME 04554.
