Ray Dick, who spent more than half his life with the Wilton Fire Department and served for 20 years as its chief, died at the age of 60 Dec. 21.

Dick was a lifelong resident of Wilton, and was a member of the town’s fire department for 35 years. He served as chief until his retirement in 2017, and oversaw some of the department’s biggest changes – including the major redesign and construction of an addition at the department shortly before his retirement.

Current Wilton Fire Chief Don Nourse said he and Dick both started in the department in 1982, and came up through the ranks together.

“We were on the same company, and did a lot of traveling and training together,” Nourse said. “We were friends and comrades. He was very rooted  into the community and com munity service. He went way, way too soon.”

Ji m Cutler, who was Dick’s immediate successor as chief and was his friend of 40 years, said he loved the job.

“Ray was an excellent firefighter. He knew his stuff, and he seemed to be almost made for the job,” Cutler said.

Dick served as a lieutenant, captain, deputy fire warden and fire warden. He became the town’s deputy chief in 1994, and then the chief in 1997. He would at times play the role of Smokey Bear during school visits to teach children about fire safety.

“He had a lot of years invested in the department,” Nourse said. “He lived and breathed the fire service; that was his life for a long time.”

Cutler said Dick was the “first one there, and the last to leave,” at fire scenes.

“He enjoyed being at the fires, being with the guys,” he said. “He always did what was necessary.”

David Boissonnault, who served as a deputy chief under Dick, said he was often in the middle of the action. He remembered one call, for a bad fire, where the department had to enter the house. As they were carrying hose through the house, Boissonnault said they heard a yell, and found Dick had fallen halfway through the basement staircase.

Nourse characterized Dick as having a fun side, but also having the leadership attitude that allowed him to make tough decisions when they had to be made.

“He always treated his guys well. He always treated people fairly,” said Boissonnault. “He’s going to be missed.”

Cutler said Dick was “very rarely a mainstream thinker,” and was good at thinking outside the box and challenging people’s perspective. He said that Dick had been on the department to see firefighting fundamentally change.

“He definitely brought the department a long way forward – when he started, you joined and learned as you went. He was there through the transition to having firefighters have formal education – and he always encouraged that. He wanted everybody to learn,” Cutler said.

Dick pushed strongly for the fire station addition, a project completed not long before his retirement.

“Any time you have to get a town to spend money, it’s a struggle, but that was something he really wanted to finish,” Cutler said. “And he didn’t like to compromise or give up anything for the guys, just to get something done. He pushed until he got what he needed, not just for now, but what was needed for the next 20 years.”

Dick leaves behind his wife, Lori Dick, children Haley Coffey and Parker Dick and two grandchildren, Gavin and Levi Coffey.

Memorial hours were held on Thursday at the Smith & Heald Funeral Home, including a Fire Department walk-through with members of the service in their Class A uniforms. A funeral service was held on Friday at the Congregational Church in Wilton. The burial will be private. To share a memory or offer a condolence, visit smith-heald.com.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.