Camden People - Carl Wirtz

CARL MICHAEL WIRTZ was born in Camden, New Jersey on March 6, 1924 to Edwin Wirtz and his wife, the former Gertrude Magrath. His father worked in one of Camden's leather factories, as had his grandfather, Philip Wirtz, Carl Wirtz's uncle, Stanley Wirtz, worked for many years as a detective with the Camden Police Department.

The 1930 Census shows the Wirtz family at 123 York Street, a stone's throw from the John R. Evans & Company leather works. The family at that time included older siblings Philip, 10, and Doris, 8, and a younger brother, Wallace Wirtz, 3 years and four months of age. By 1935 the family had moved to 816 North 4th Street. Edwin Wirtz was now an assistant foreman at a leather factory, and Philip was also working there. The family was still at that address in the spring of 1942.

A graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, He served in the United States Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He married Marge Dougherty shortly after returning home. The 1947 City Directory shows them living with his parents at 816 North 4th Street, with Carl Wirtz then working at the Kind & Knox Gelatin factory in North Camden.

Tragedy struck the Wirtz family in 1948 when father Edwin W. Wirtz was killed in a head-on collision on the Delaware River Bridge on January 16th of that year.

Carl M. Wirtz was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on January 16, 1951, initially as a hoseman with Engine Company 2, and later with Rescue Company 1. He lived at 1421 Norris Street in the early 1950s.

Carl M. Wirtz left the department in 1963. His cousin, Edwin S. Wirtz, the son of Stanley Wirtz, had joined the Fire Department in October of 1943, and served for 22 years before retiring.

Carl M. Wirtz died on October 6, 2005.

Camden Courier-Post - February 16, 1952

Woman Gas Victim Saved by Camden Rescue Squad

The hour-long effort of a fire department rescue squad Friday night saved a woman who tried to kill herself by gas.

Police said Mrs. Florence Marshall, 46, of 330 North Tenth Street, locked herself in the bathroom and turned on a gas jet. They added she was despondent because her daughter, Eva, 22, was planning to marry and leave
home.

A son, William, 19, broke down the bathroom door and dragged the mother from the room. Patrolmen John Voll and Harrison Wilkinson were called and
summoned the rescue squad headed by Captains Godfrey Patterson and George Boone.

It took the squad an hour to revive Mrs. Marshall by artificial respiration. She was taken to Cooper hospital and later to police headquarters, where she was released for a hearing Monday on a charge of attempted suicide.

Other members of Rescue Squad 1 are George Baxter, William Watkin, John Mogck, Edward Brendllnger, Arthur Ballinghoff, Christopher Moll, Edwin Decker, Carl Wirtz, Robert Olesiewicz, John Kolessar and Raymond Banford.

	Camden Courier-Post November 6, 1953 Leonard Chasey Carl Wirtz George L. Boone South 9th Street Norris Street Stevens Street Broadway Joseph J. Shapiro Rolan's Clothing Store Engine Company 2

Camden Courier-Post February 10, 1962

HOSEMAN CARL WIRTZ, attached to Engine Company 2 answers alarm the fast way, diwn the pole from dormitory section and onto equipment, which is a sharp contrast to apparatus used by an 1810 bucket brigade.