The founder of Performance Advantage Company, Richard “Dick” Young, passed away earlier this month.
Young, considered a pioneer in the fire apparatus industry, passed away March 17. He dedicated decades of his life to the fire service by providing innovation and safety in apparatus design and construction.
He followed in his father's footsteps in the fire apparatus business. Young's father, Lester, started Young Fire Equipment in 1944.
Until Young joined the U.S. Navy in 1948, he was at the factory all the time.
When he returned from service during the Korean War, he began working for Young Fire Equipment. During this journey to become president, he brought many innovations to the fire apparatus being used across the country.
While Young Fire Equipment closed in 1991, Young pushed his innovations forward when he founded Performance Advantage Company (PAC Tool Mounts) the next year.
"Using the knowledge he gained building apparatus, Dick focused on tool mounting brackets and has grown PAC into an international company servicing over 38 countries across multiple industries," PAC Tool Mounts shared in his memorial.
"Dick was a respected humanitarian and historian, donating not only the location for the Greater Lancaster Museum of Fire Fighting to be built, but also pieces from his personal collection."
Like his father, Young served as president of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association (FAMA). He was a member of the Lancaster, NY, Village Board and an honorary member of many fire departments around western New York.
"Dick's list of accomplishments and awards are outnumbered only by the number of lives he touched and people he helped. He was an undeniably charismatic legend in the fire industry, and he will be sorely missed."
A memorial service was held March 23 in Lancaster, NY.
Firehouse's Apparatus Architect columnist Tom W. Shand, who called Young a lifelong friend, shared the following:
I had the pleasure of knowing Dick Young for over 50 years, having first connected shortly after my graduation from the University of Maryland where I had been exposed to a number of rigs built by Young Fire Equipment. These vehicles had some unique characteristics and were extremely well built which caused me to reach out to Mr. Young via a letter where I desired to visit the factory and meet with Dick. I received a handwritten response from Dick inviting me to Lancaster, NY, where he spent an entire afternoon with me to show me the facility and talk about fire trucks.
As a youngster, I was in awe of seeing new rigs built while attempting to take in all of the information that Dick shared on the history of the company and his vision for a well-designed fire truck.
Dick was influential with promoting the Snorkel Fire Equipment products throughout the northeast dating back to 1960 and over the years built 57 of these devices with Young designed bodywork that was unique from other builders.
Dick was an innovator and had developed apparatus designs that were far ahead of their time including the Crusader, custom power Ford C model chassis, Tower King aerial devices and in later years the Crusader II mid-engine apparatus. He was a visionary individual who could develop designs that made the fire service safer as well as providing apparatus that had no equal with respect to the construction and attention to detail on the smallest of components.
In later years, when I co-authored a book chronicling the history of Young Fire Equipment, Dick provided open access to the companies engineering files to gather information on the units that were going to be featured in the book. Dick was most gracious with his time as I continuously peppered him with questions on certain rigs and he would always respond back with notes and sketches in response. One of the proudest moments was when my co-author Leo Duliba and I presented copies of the book to Dick with each of us signing one another’s book. It was an honor to capture the history of the company with Dick’s input and guidance.
When Performance Advantage Company was formed in 1993 the concept of providing specialty brackets to secure tools and equipment was in its infancy and once again Dick’s imagination produced an entire new range of products that would be utilized not only by the fire service, but worldwide with other vocations including the U.S. Navy where Dick served between 1948 and 1949. There is no way to determine the number of lives that PAC products have saved by safely securing tools and equipment within the cab of today’s modern fire apparatus.
In more recent times, anytime I was able to travel to the Lancaster area it would include a visit to PAC to see what designs Dick was working on, along with a stop at the Greater Lancaster Fire Museum which contained a great amount of Young Fire Equipment history. By this time I was smart enough to make notes and write down whatever Dick had on his mind for new ideas. Each one was a master class in fire apparatus history and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time with Mr. Young, one of the most humble and insightful persons that I met. Rest in peace sir.
Donations can be made to the Dick Young Heritage House, a non-profit that recognizes volunteers in Lancaster.
Dick Young Heritage House
10 Central Ave.
Lancaster, NY 14086
Peter Matthews | Editor-in-Chief/Conference Director
Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department.
