From the Richmond Times-Dispatch - Wednesday, September 4, 1991
Sandy Nevejans asked Milton Throckmorton a question four years ago.
It wasn't until he died of a heart attack Aug. 10 that she and other members of the East Hanover Volunteer Rescue Squad had to come to terms with the answer.
Throckmorton, one of the founders of the rescue squad and its last active charter member, was hard at work back when Miss Nevejans asked, "What happens if something ever happened to you? No one else is going to know what to do down here. You do so much.
"He just said, `Well, I don't have time to train anybody.' "
Now, in everything from finding crucial forms to sweeping the floor to making arrangements for conventions, the 56-year-old Mechanicsville man's sudden absence is being felt, squad members say. Some say bonds of friendship and trust between members of the organization he helped found in 1969 have grown stronger.
One member said it was ironic that Throckmorton had always tried to bring people closer together, and as a result of his death, that was now happening, Miss Nevejans said. The emotions ran high at a get-together soon after his death.
"To see 40 people in here, crying their hearts out and hugging one another. . . . It was unreal," she said.
Throckmorton, who retired from AT&T in January 1990, was the rescue squad's vice president and a squad crew chief. His friends at the squad say he was a quiet, well-respected man with a delightful sense of humor. He also was a stickler for cleanliness and neatness.
Anne Rawls, a friend for 29 years and a squad member since 1969, said his death has had an unusual effect on the other crews.
"When Milton's crew was here, this place was spic and span. It was spotless," she said. "But the other crews had a tendency to leave the sinks full of dishes."
No more.
"All of a sudden, everyone is now (saying), `There's no soap under the sink, we can't wash the dishes,' and `Who left this sink full?' Everyone's very sensitive about that because they knew it was a pet peeve of Milton 's."
President Judson Stanley said Throckmorton's knowledge of the operation and familiarity with a range of duties made him a dependable source for advice and information. And Throckmorton took on so many projects that it's now taking three or four people to carry on his work.
Now, when someone needs to find things, "Instead of calling Milton , we'll have to go and look," Stanley said. "We find them, but Milton would say, ' It's in the third drawer. It's behind so-and-so.' "
Even if rescue squad members are handling his duties well, many are not handling his loss as easily.
"It probably hasn't affected us on calls. We're still as professional as we can be and we do our job," said squad member Faye Longest, 37. "But when the pressure's off and you're back in the building and you have time to think, you'll see things that remind you and it affects you."
He did so much, "Anytime you do anything, it reminds you of Milton ," she said.
Remembering him at gatherings before his funeral prompted tears and laughter.
"We laughed at the funeral home. We laughed here in the building. We laughed when we had the sessions together and talked," Stanley said.
In fact, Throckmorton's wife, Betty, who is a charter member of the squad's ladies auxiliary, said her sides hurt at the funeral from laughing so much the previous nights. Throckmorton is also survived by a daughter, Wendy, who is a squad member, and a son, Keith.
Other good has come from Throckmorton's memory and the desire to honor him, Mrs. Longest said.
On the day of the funeral, she said she saw people who had not been getting along hugging each other. "Everything was put aside for Milton, and I think it may have made things patch up."
He was a father figure for some, she said.
"His soul was just good."
====================================
Birth/death places, parent links, middle name, and full birth date provided by Find A Grave contributor A Egan
Sandy Nevejans asked Milton Throckmorton a question four years ago.
It wasn't until he died of a heart attack Aug. 10 that she and other members of the East Hanover Volunteer Rescue Squad had to come to terms with the answer.
Throckmorton, one of the founders of the rescue squad and its last active charter member, was hard at work back when Miss Nevejans asked, "What happens if something ever happened to you? No one else is going to know what to do down here. You do so much.
"He just said, `Well, I don't have time to train anybody.' "
Now, in everything from finding crucial forms to sweeping the floor to making arrangements for conventions, the 56-year-old Mechanicsville man's sudden absence is being felt, squad members say. Some say bonds of friendship and trust between members of the organization he helped found in 1969 have grown stronger.
One member said it was ironic that Throckmorton had always tried to bring people closer together, and as a result of his death, that was now happening, Miss Nevejans said. The emotions ran high at a get-together soon after his death.
"To see 40 people in here, crying their hearts out and hugging one another. . . . It was unreal," she said.
Throckmorton, who retired from AT&T in January 1990, was the rescue squad's vice president and a squad crew chief. His friends at the squad say he was a quiet, well-respected man with a delightful sense of humor. He also was a stickler for cleanliness and neatness.
Anne Rawls, a friend for 29 years and a squad member since 1969, said his death has had an unusual effect on the other crews.
"When Milton's crew was here, this place was spic and span. It was spotless," she said. "But the other crews had a tendency to leave the sinks full of dishes."
No more.
"All of a sudden, everyone is now (saying), `There's no soap under the sink, we can't wash the dishes,' and `Who left this sink full?' Everyone's very sensitive about that because they knew it was a pet peeve of Milton 's."
President Judson Stanley said Throckmorton's knowledge of the operation and familiarity with a range of duties made him a dependable source for advice and information. And Throckmorton took on so many projects that it's now taking three or four people to carry on his work.
Now, when someone needs to find things, "Instead of calling Milton , we'll have to go and look," Stanley said. "We find them, but Milton would say, ' It's in the third drawer. It's behind so-and-so.' "
Even if rescue squad members are handling his duties well, many are not handling his loss as easily.
"It probably hasn't affected us on calls. We're still as professional as we can be and we do our job," said squad member Faye Longest, 37. "But when the pressure's off and you're back in the building and you have time to think, you'll see things that remind you and it affects you."
He did so much, "Anytime you do anything, it reminds you of Milton ," she said.
Remembering him at gatherings before his funeral prompted tears and laughter.
"We laughed at the funeral home. We laughed here in the building. We laughed when we had the sessions together and talked," Stanley said.
In fact, Throckmorton's wife, Betty, who is a charter member of the squad's ladies auxiliary, said her sides hurt at the funeral from laughing so much the previous nights. Throckmorton is also survived by a daughter, Wendy, who is a squad member, and a son, Keith.
Other good has come from Throckmorton's memory and the desire to honor him, Mrs. Longest said.
On the day of the funeral, she said she saw people who had not been getting along hugging each other. "Everything was put aside for Milton, and I think it may have made things patch up."
He was a father figure for some, she said.
"His soul was just good."
====================================
Birth/death places, parent links, middle name, and full birth date provided by Find A Grave contributor A Egan
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch - Wednesday, September 4, 1991
Sandy Nevejans asked Milton Throckmorton a question four years ago.
It wasn't until he died of a heart attack Aug. 10 that she and other members of the East Hanover Volunteer Rescue Squad had to come to terms with the answer.
Throckmorton, one of the founders of the rescue squad and its last active charter member, was hard at work back when Miss Nevejans asked, "What happens if something ever happened to you? No one else is going to know what to do down here. You do so much.
"He just said, `Well, I don't have time to train anybody.' "
Now, in everything from finding crucial forms to sweeping the floor to making arrangements for conventions, the 56-year-old Mechanicsville man's sudden absence is being felt, squad members say. Some say bonds of friendship and trust between members of the organization he helped found in 1969 have grown stronger.
One member said it was ironic that Throckmorton had always tried to bring people closer together, and as a result of his death, that was now happening, Miss Nevejans said. The emotions ran high at a get-together soon after his death.
"To see 40 people in here, crying their hearts out and hugging one another. . . . It was unreal," she said.
Throckmorton, who retired from AT&T in January 1990, was the rescue squad's vice president and a squad crew chief. His friends at the squad say he was a quiet, well-respected man with a delightful sense of humor. He also was a stickler for cleanliness and neatness.
Anne Rawls, a friend for 29 years and a squad member since 1969, said his death has had an unusual effect on the other crews.
"When Milton's crew was here, this place was spic and span. It was spotless," she said. "But the other crews had a tendency to leave the sinks full of dishes."
No more.
"All of a sudden, everyone is now (saying), `There's no soap under the sink, we can't wash the dishes,' and `Who left this sink full?' Everyone's very sensitive about that because they knew it was a pet peeve of Milton 's."
President Judson Stanley said Throckmorton's knowledge of the operation and familiarity with a range of duties made him a dependable source for advice and information. And Throckmorton took on so many projects that it's now taking three or four people to carry on his work.
Now, when someone needs to find things, "Instead of calling Milton , we'll have to go and look," Stanley said. "We find them, but Milton would say, ' It's in the third drawer. It's behind so-and-so.' "
Even if rescue squad members are handling his duties well, many are not handling his loss as easily.
"It probably hasn't affected us on calls. We're still as professional as we can be and we do our job," said squad member Faye Longest, 37. "But when the pressure's off and you're back in the building and you have time to think, you'll see things that remind you and it affects you."
He did so much, "Anytime you do anything, it reminds you of Milton ," she said.
Remembering him at gatherings before his funeral prompted tears and laughter.
"We laughed at the funeral home. We laughed here in the building. We laughed when we had the sessions together and talked," Stanley said.
In fact, Throckmorton's wife, Betty, who is a charter member of the squad's ladies auxiliary, said her sides hurt at the funeral from laughing so much the previous nights. Throckmorton is also survived by a daughter, Wendy, who is a squad member, and a son, Keith.
Other good has come from Throckmorton's memory and the desire to honor him, Mrs. Longest said.
On the day of the funeral, she said she saw people who had not been getting along hugging each other. "Everything was put aside for Milton, and I think it may have made things patch up."
He was a father figure for some, she said.
"His soul was just good."
====================================
Birth/death places, parent links, middle name, and full birth date provided by Find A Grave contributor A Egan
Sandy Nevejans asked Milton Throckmorton a question four years ago.
It wasn't until he died of a heart attack Aug. 10 that she and other members of the East Hanover Volunteer Rescue Squad had to come to terms with the answer.
Throckmorton, one of the founders of the rescue squad and its last active charter member, was hard at work back when Miss Nevejans asked, "What happens if something ever happened to you? No one else is going to know what to do down here. You do so much.
"He just said, `Well, I don't have time to train anybody.' "
Now, in everything from finding crucial forms to sweeping the floor to making arrangements for conventions, the 56-year-old Mechanicsville man's sudden absence is being felt, squad members say. Some say bonds of friendship and trust between members of the organization he helped found in 1969 have grown stronger.
One member said it was ironic that Throckmorton had always tried to bring people closer together, and as a result of his death, that was now happening, Miss Nevejans said. The emotions ran high at a get-together soon after his death.
"To see 40 people in here, crying their hearts out and hugging one another. . . . It was unreal," she said.
Throckmorton, who retired from AT&T in January 1990, was the rescue squad's vice president and a squad crew chief. His friends at the squad say he was a quiet, well-respected man with a delightful sense of humor. He also was a stickler for cleanliness and neatness.
Anne Rawls, a friend for 29 years and a squad member since 1969, said his death has had an unusual effect on the other crews.
"When Milton's crew was here, this place was spic and span. It was spotless," she said. "But the other crews had a tendency to leave the sinks full of dishes."
No more.
"All of a sudden, everyone is now (saying), `There's no soap under the sink, we can't wash the dishes,' and `Who left this sink full?' Everyone's very sensitive about that because they knew it was a pet peeve of Milton 's."
President Judson Stanley said Throckmorton's knowledge of the operation and familiarity with a range of duties made him a dependable source for advice and information. And Throckmorton took on so many projects that it's now taking three or four people to carry on his work.
Now, when someone needs to find things, "Instead of calling Milton , we'll have to go and look," Stanley said. "We find them, but Milton would say, ' It's in the third drawer. It's behind so-and-so.' "
Even if rescue squad members are handling his duties well, many are not handling his loss as easily.
"It probably hasn't affected us on calls. We're still as professional as we can be and we do our job," said squad member Faye Longest, 37. "But when the pressure's off and you're back in the building and you have time to think, you'll see things that remind you and it affects you."
He did so much, "Anytime you do anything, it reminds you of Milton ," she said.
Remembering him at gatherings before his funeral prompted tears and laughter.
"We laughed at the funeral home. We laughed here in the building. We laughed when we had the sessions together and talked," Stanley said.
In fact, Throckmorton's wife, Betty, who is a charter member of the squad's ladies auxiliary, said her sides hurt at the funeral from laughing so much the previous nights. Throckmorton is also survived by a daughter, Wendy, who is a squad member, and a son, Keith.
Other good has come from Throckmorton's memory and the desire to honor him, Mrs. Longest said.
On the day of the funeral, she said she saw people who had not been getting along hugging each other. "Everything was put aside for Milton, and I think it may have made things patch up."
He was a father figure for some, she said.
"His soul was just good."
====================================
Birth/death places, parent links, middle name, and full birth date provided by Find A Grave contributor A Egan
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