Deputy Fire Chief Carmen Iantosca (holding plaque with Village President Sheena Collum) surrounded by South Orange Village Trustees
Few families have done as much for South Orange as the Iantoscas.
On April 25, the South Orange Board of Trustees and Village President Sheena Collum honored four generations of the Iantosca family while celebrating the retirement of Deputy Fire Chief Carmen Iantosca in a proclamation.
While Deputy Chief Iantosca has served the Township of South Orange Village for 35 years, the Iantosca family service to South Orange goes back more than 100 years to 1906 when his great grandfather, also named Carmen Iantosca, worked at the South Orange Water Department (1906–1921). His grandfather Michael Iantosca rose to serve as Assistant Superintendent of the South Orange Water Department (working as a Water Department employee from 1914–1959), and his father, Carmen Iantosca, was also ultimately the Assistant Superintendent of the South Orange Water Department, working for the Township from 1956-1989.
In total, the Iantosca family has served South Orange for 128 years.
“I want to thank everyone for this proclamation and [Acting Fire Chief Daniel Sullivan]. I have a feeling he had a lot to do with this,” said Iantosca who added that he was accepting the proclamation more for his family than for himself.
“We’ve lived in town for over a 100 years uninterrupted,” Iantosca said. “I’m very proud to live in the town and work in the town. It’s a privilege.”
Iantosca lauded the work of his forefathers, noting that his grandfather left his own mother’s wake in order to respond to a water main break. He also honored his father’s work ethic: “He was the Assistant Superintendent in town, but he was also a laborer. I’d walk by and he was digging a ditch. He was my idol. I’d run home and get him a drink.”
Iantosca also paid tribute to his colleagues at the South Orange Fire Department, saying that he grew up with Chief Sullivan and that he was “very proud to be a member of the Fire Department.”
At the Fire Department, Iantosca began as a Firefighter in 1981 before rising to Fire Lieutenant (1993) then Captain (1996) then Deputy Chief (2012). Highlights of his career include Act of Bravery Commendations for thwarting the mugging of a senior citizen in 1983, rescuing an unconscious victim from a fire in 1992, and performing valiantly in the tragic Seton Hall University dormitory fire in 2000.
The proclamation states, “On behalf of the Board of Trustees, and the entire Village of South Orange, that the Village hereby expresses its sincerest appreciation to Deputy Chief Iantosca, a valued Superior Officer of the South Orange Fire Department, having served his hometown and community in the finest tradition of fire service, personifying the traits of courage, selflessness, loyalty, dedication, conviction, determination and perseverance, wishing him continued success and good health in the future.”
Read the full proclamation below:
