One of Hazel Dell’s most prominent citizens, Dick Streissguth, died Monday at age 86. Streissguth was an original volunteer and longtime chief of Clark County Fire District 6, and was prominent in the local business community and in local parades, where his fleet of antique fire apparatus outnumbered that of some fire departments.
Streissguth served on the board of People’s Community Credit Union, the Clark County Fair and the Hazel Dell/Salmon Creek Business Association. For many years, he was one of the main organizers of the Hazel Dell Parade of Bands, the community’s biggest annual parade.
District 6 commissioner Brad Lothspeich was chief at District 6 after Streissguth, until 2003, and a fellow business association board member.
“If anybody’s been in a parade in the area, they’ve probably seen one of his fire engines,” Lothspeich said.
Streissguth owned a dozen classic fire engines and ladder trucks, which his large family drives at events, District 6 Chief Jerry Green said. The vehicles were part of Vancouver’s Veterans Day parade last month.
Green called Streissguth “one of the founding fathers of our department.”
When voters created the fire protection district in 1954, Streissguth, who was then working at the state Department of Corrections, signed up to be a volunteer firefighter.
As the community began inching away from farmland to homes, the department grew, and Streissguth was appointed as the assistant chief in 1967. After retiring from his job with the state in 1981, he took a full-time job as fire chief, a job he held until December 1993.
Since then, he’s been secretary of the district’s board of commissioners, bringing his tenure with the district to 61 years, Green said.
Streissguth’s philosophy and commitment is baked into the district’s DNA, Green said, adding the former chief would put together a district history presentation for new hires.
“For myself and many of us here, he’s just been a great mentor,” Green said. “So much knowledge over that many years.”
He was generous, delivering flowers to 911 dispatchers and giving gifts to district administrative assistants, Green said.
“He is as giving a person I’ve ever been around,” Green said. “He would do anything for anybody.”
Lothspeich said Streissguth’s death was akin to losing a family member.
“He was a big part of Fire District 6, historically, and the amount of time he donated to the fire distinct and the community is unbelievable,” Lothspeich said, praising his old boss’ honesty and integrity as a fire chief.
Streissguth was on the People’s Community Credit Union board since 1968, when it was still the Clark County Community Credit Union.
“He was quite the community leader, no question,” said Ed Seidenberg, CEO at the 13,000-member credit union.
“He’s really set the tone for the credit union over that long a period of time. He’s really been the historian, the champion (for) the philosophy of the credit union,” Seidenberg said.
Green said Streissguth’s health had declined recently, and he died while receiving in-home hospice care. A memorial service has not yet been planned.
Flags were lowered to half-staff at District 6 stations in Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek to honor Streissguth.
