The Suffield League has tapped Robert Rasnick as the grand marshal for the 2026 Annual Memorial Day Parade.
For more than 47 years, Robert (Bob) Rasnick has served the Suffield community in various ways. At the age of 19, he began to serve Suffield in many non-elected capacities: as a zoning inspector, in the road department, as a school bus driver and as Town Hall administrator (following Mary Lohr).
So, after 42 years, Bob is retiring June 30 as the longest-serving fire chief of the Suffield Fire Department.
Bob shared the story of how it happened when he joined the Suffield Fire Department. His mother, Dorothy Rasnick, was a member of the department and was attending an EMS class (she served the SFD for 32 years). He was to pick her up after class and drive her home, but the class ended late. While waiting he was talking with John Wohlwend, the fire chief at the time, about the station’s duties and community services. By the time his mom was ready to leave, he had also become a member of the fire department. John was retiring in 1984, so Bob, along with several others, applied for his job. Bob was awarded the position. He felt the timing was perfect because he was attending the University of Akron to get a degree in fire science technology. He was sworn in May 1, 1984. At that time, he was the youngest fire chief in Portage County. As he retires, he is the second-oldest fire chief.
He is knowledgeable about the entire SFD history, how it was first formed in 1942, and its evolution up to now. He oversaw the construction of the present fire station, which in itself is a fascinating story that we will hopefully follow up with him.
As fire chief, Bob wears many hats. To mention just a few of his responsibilities, he oversees training of his firefighting team. A major duty is to assure that all equipment is in working order.
And he meets with the Suffield Trustees with monthly activity reports.
The Suffield Fire Department collaborates with and answers assistance calls from fire departments in Portage, Summit and Stark counties. In 2003, during the Cleveland blackout (which caused a water problem), SFD sent its tanker truck to help. He can also be seen discussing a variety of issues on social media platforms.
Asked to name a couple of his highest-profile calls, one was the crash of a Goodyear Blimp off state Route 43. Another was the helicopter that crashed into Mogadore Reservoir. On social media, the public viewed the respect shown by firefighters who saluted the flag-draped coffin as the helicopter’s pilot, a U.S. veteran, was removed from the water.
Another little-known “Rasnick fact”: He, along with Rootstown Fire Chief Chuck Palmer, taught Fire Entry classes Levels 1 and 2 at Maplewood Vocational School from 1993 to 2003.
Asked about the most difficult duties of the job, he immediately said that it was meeting with families to inform them of the loss of a loved one from a fire or an accident.
He holds many fond memories working with his team and the community. He enjoyed holding the pancake breakfasts for the community, the many open houses with fire-related activities and educating children about the SFD’s work. And of course, the station’s patriotic participation in the annual Memorial Day ceremonies honoring our veterans.
Bob is looking forward to his retirement and wonders how he will transition from being very active and always on-call to having more personal time. He is an accomplished organist and enjoys playing the pipe organ in his home. Elaborating on his musical background, he played drums in the Field Royal Guardsmen marching band and the tuba in the concert band. He again mentioned his mom being instrumental in his playing music. He is also looking forward to having more time “tinkering” on different projects in his garage!
He stressed he will miss his SFD team, but he will enjoy spending time with Wendy, his wife of 31 years, and son, Thomas.
One of his last duties as fire chief will be walking the Suffield Memorial Day Parade with his team as they do every year. The fire department starts the parade and ends it, with the crowd enjoying the full display of fire trucks and EMS equipment sounding their horns and throwing candy.
Bob just encourages the community to keep using the many resources the fire station provides, such as blood pressure checks from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, the many EMS services, and to sign up for CodeRed by texting “Suffield” 99411 to receive public safety alerts.
The Suffield community thanks Bob for his years of service and congratulates him on retirement.
We hope everyone will be at the Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 25. If you or your group is participating, lineup is at 8:45 a.m. at the corner of Waterloo and Congress Lake roads. The parade begins at 10 a.m.