POUGHKEEPSIE – Dick “Trapper” Decker, a 43-year veteran of the Poughkeepsie Fire Department, was laid to rest on Friday. Firefighters from Poughkeepsie, LaGrange, and Fairview honored Dexter by escorting the funeral procession from Hyde Park to his final resting place at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery.
Trapper worked security at the former Hudson River State Hospital before joining the Fairview Fire Department in 1955. In 1969, he joined the City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department, Ladder Co#2, and remained there until his retirement in 1998, Serving Poughkeepsie for 43 years.
Trapper, 85 when he passed, and retired City of Poughkeepsie Deputy Chief Ed Decker spent several years working together in Poughkeepsie and picking up extra shifts at the Fairview Fire Department when they were not working in Poughkeepsie. Deputy Chief Decker considered his former colleague to be one of his best friends. “We spent so much time working together that we saw each other more than we saw our families. I’m really going to miss him.”
On-duty Poughkeepsie firefighters from the Clover Street Station parked Engine 1 and Ladder 1 on the Columbia Street overpass and saluted the procession as it traveled below on Route 9. The firefighters were joined by Captain Stephen Sutka, who fondly recalled his former co-worker. “He trained a lot of the guys in our department and we’re all thankful.”
The on-duty firefighters from the Main Street Station and Hooker Avenue Station were parked near the entrance to the cemetery to pay their respects while also being ready to respond to emergencies in the city.
Decker’s love of fishing, hunting, and trapping resulted in his nickname of “Trapper.” The family requested everyone to go trout fishing after the funeral service. The funeral was held on the same day as the opening of trout fishing season in New York.
The video of the procession as it traveled south on Route 9, as seen from the Columbia Street overpass:
