Notes for: William Henry Bodine
From Ronny Bodine:
In April 1910 to April 1930, William and Agnes Bodine lived in Middletown where in 1910 William reported he and Agnes had been married 8 years and that Agnes had borne one child, their son Ralph. William worked 1920 as a laborer in a saw factory and 1930 as a railroad laborer. Agnes (Grier) Bodine was the daughter of James A. and Agnes (McCartney) Grier.
From The Goshen Independent Republican (Goshen, N.Y.).
William H. Bodine of Middletown and Miss Agnes Grier of Middletown were married 6 Nov 1901 in Middletown.
From New York Federal Census Records:
1940 (9 April) Middletown, Orange Co.: William H. BODINE 78 NY, Agnes G. 73 NY wife, Ralph T. 37 NY married son Mechanic-Auto Garage
Obituary, The Middletown Times Herald (Middletown, N.Y.) of 24 July 1946.
Bodine, Member Of McQuoids for 67 Years, Dead Had Marched in 63 Fire Parades in City; Rites to Be Held Saturday
William Henry Bodine, a member of McQuoid Engine & Ladder Company for sixty-seven years, died here today after a long illness. Until he was stricken about three years ago Mr. Bodine had never missed marching with the McQuoids in a single fire parade in the city in more than sixty years. He joined the company in 1879 and received his fifty-year badge nearly seventeen years ago. The funeral will be held at 9:30 Saturday morning at the P. J. Reilly Funeral Home, thirty-three Railroad avenue, with a Mass of Requiem at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at ten a.m. BuriaL will be in the family plot in Wallkill Cemetery, Phillipsburg. Mr. Bodine's only surviving relative is a son, Ralph, of Middletown. His wife, the former Agnes Greer, died several years ago. One of Mr. Bodine's last appearances in uniform with other members of McQuoids was in the annual municipal fire parade July eighteenth, 1941. Eighty years old at the time, he led the company, wearing the new blue uniform which the company had adopted that year. He recalled at the time hat it was his sixty-third fire parade in the City of Middletown and that he had worn all seven changes of uniform adopted by McQuoids since the company was organized. Despite his age, Mr. Bodine refused to the last the suggestions of company officials that he ride on the truck in the parades. He preferred to march with the other men. His last parade was the Mobilization March of 1942 in which all firemen and other civic and war organizations participated. During his years of service as a volunteer fireman, Mr. Bodine kept a complete collection of badges presented to him at the various parades and conventions he attended. He presented the collection to the McQuoids shortly after his illness forced him to give up his firemanic activities. Mr. Bodine served as a trustee of McQuoids for more than twenty--five years, having been elected to that post for the first time in 1890. He was mcQuoid delegate to the Board of Representatives of the City Fire Department for thirty-eight years. He served for eighteen years during his early years in the company and was elected again in 1922. He continued in the post for the next twenty years. Next to the McQuoids, Mr. Bodine's interest was with the Fire Police Organization of Middletown, of which he was a member for many years. He was a retired employee of the Ontario & Western Railway.