Chester Remembers Leonard Smalley With Fireman’s Farewell

CHESTER, NJ — Family and friends said a heartfelt goodbye this past Wednesday to Leonard Beason Smalley, 92, who had actively served with the Chester Volunteer Fire Company and First Aid Squad when he and his family lived in Chester.

That sendoff included a special “fireman’s farewell” at his funeral service on July 21 at Chester’s First Congregational Church, with firetrucks, police escorts, firefighters among his pallbearers and a bagpiper tribute. His casket was placed aboard a Chester fire engine for one last drive.

Smalley was a life member and past chief of the Chester Volunteer Fire Company in 1958, 1961 and 1966, the fire company expressing both their condolences and sorrow on social media.

The First Aid Squad also gave Smalley their own special online tribute, thanking him for his service and lifting up his family.

Smalley, who died on July 14, was born on Oct. 16, 1928 in nearby Far Hills. He and Jane Grady married the day after Christmas in 1948, she predeceasing him after 69 years of marriage. Chester
was the home where they raised their four children, before retiring to their beach home in Garden City, South Carolina.

Before he entered the Police Academy in Sea Girt to become a police officer, Smalley was a builder. At the time of his retirement after 26 years with the Morris County Park Police, he was a captain.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Chester Volunteer Fire Company with more information here; and for Chester First Aid Squad here.

Read more about Leonard Smalley in his obituary here.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.