Obituary of Bruce Firkins

Bruce Judson Firkins, Jr., of Saddle River, N.J., and formerly a 55-year resident of Scarsdale, N.Y., died on May 25th. He was 91 years old. Born in Ames, Ia., to Bruce J. Firkins, Sr., Professor of Agronomy at Iowa State University, and Nelle Berkhimer, he graduated from Iowa State in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Engineering. His education was interrupted in 1943 by World War II service in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was separated in 1946 as a 1st Lieutenant after serving as an aircraft maintenance officer. Mr. Firkins joined the General Electric Co. in 1950 and served in a number of communications, public and government relations and marketing assignments in Schenectady, N.Y., Syracuse, N.Y., and ultimately New York City. He retired from General Electric in 1986 as Manager of Regional Relations in the northeastern region, representing the corporate office in customer relations and public affairs. He married Helen Mabie of Amsterdam, N.Y. in 1950, and they moved to Scarsdale in 1956. Mrs. Firkins predeceased her husband in 2013. He is survived by sister Miriam F. Hardy and nephew Joseph Hardy, both of Des Moines, Ia., son Bruce and wife Diane of Allendale, N.J.; son Bradford and wife Terry of Fayetteville, N.Y.; four grandchildren, Andrew, Katharine, William and Mee Rae; and two great-grandsons, Cole and Alexander. Mr. Firkins was a former deacon and elder at the Greenville Community Reformed Church in Scarsdale. He served several terms on the Edgemont School District Board of Education and was a long-time election inspector for the Town of Greenburgh, N.Y. He also was active in the Rotary Club of New York City, the New York Chamber of Commerce, the United Way, the Red Cross, and Junior Achievement, and supported the Greenburgh Nature Center and the New York Botanical Garden. He was a member for more than 45 years of St. Andrews Golf Club in Hastings, N.Y., serving as club team captain, and also was a member of Shenorock Shore Club in Rye, N.Y. Mr. Firkins and his wife Helen traveled to many parts of the world, enjoyed the seashore, New York City and the theater, as well as the love and joy of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and the company of their many friends, his family said. Memorial donations may be made to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 4002018, Des Moines, IA, 50340-2018 or to the Greenville Community Reformed Church, 270 Ardsley Road, Scarsdale, N.Y. 10583. Arrangements were by Vander Plaat Funeral Home, Wyckoff.