Volunteer fire and emergency service runs in the blood of some Hopewell Valley families. You’ll find just that in “Meet the Firefighting Families of Hopewell Valley,” a four-part series in which you’ll meet several of them!
Part 1: At the Pennington Fire Company, everyone predicts a day when the Demareski boys and their dad will fully crew a fire engine all by themselves.
Part 2: Union Fire Company & Rescue Squad husband-and-wife team David and Julie Crum each followed multiple generations into their volunteer life-saving and leadership roles;
Part 3: Hopewell Fire Department & Emergency Medical Unit’s fire house is the second home of more than a dozen Toths; and
Part 4: Volunteer with Relatives or Without. A Second Family Awaits
Part III: Thirteen Toths at Hopewell Fire Department
Early in their marriage, Michael and Christie Toth moved back to Hopewell Valley to be near his family.
“The entire rest of the family was involved in the fire department, so I thought, let me see what’s there,” Christie remembers.
Two decades later, “everybody” now means more than a dozen Toths.
Michael, a life member, is Hopewell’s former company president and an active firefighter. Christie is the current president and a former EMT. Their daughter Catlyn, 25, is a firefighter, and Hailey, 22, a non-emergency member who assists at company events.
Michael’s brother Joseph Toth II is a firefighter, past chief, and life member. His wife, Kristine, a former company president and EMT. Their son Joseph III, 26 , is a firefighter, and daughters Amanda, 25, and Nadia, 17, are non-emergency members who assists at company events.
Family patriarch Joseph Toth is a past chief and emergency squad captain and life member, and matriarch Eileen, who served multiple times as ladies auxiliary president, remains active in the auxiliary.
The volunteer experience heavily influenced Michael and Christie’s professional lives as well. He is an Army National Guard critical care flight paramedic and a Hopewell Township police officer. She was so inspired by her work with Hopewell Fire’s Emergency Medical Unit that she went back to school to become a surgical technician. She has assisted in surgeries for more than 10 years and currently works at Capital Health Medical Center Hopewell.
“When you’re an EMT, and you do CPR, and someone comes back – they were dead, but now they’re alive, and you were a part of that – wow!” she said.
Stay tuned for more in this series and thank you to all our first responders!
You and your family can be an integral part of the Hopewell Valley volunteer firefighter and EMS family. For more information, please visit www.ProtectHopewellValley.com, or call Matthew Martin at 609-537-0287
