Theodore A. Orbaczewski
Theodore A. Orbaczewski was born in Camden, New Jersey on September 26, 1921. He was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on September 15, 1953. He served with Engine Company 11 in Cramer Hill until he retired on a disability pension on October 1, 1967.
After retiring from the Camden Fire Department, Theodore Orbaczewski eventually moved to Erial, New Jersey. He passed away on April 10, 2001.
Many thanks to Terry Orbaczewski Ertz for her help in creating this page.
Photos — March 1961
From left: __________, ________, Theodore Orbaczewski, ________ — Photo by Bob Bartosz
Photos — North 29th Street & Hayes Avenue — November 30, 1961
A Cadillac collided with a Hudson, Engine Company 11 responded. Chief of Department Edward MacDowell is on the scene, wearing the white coat.
Looking Northwest across the park from the NE corner of 29th & Hayes
Looking North on Hayes Avenue from North 29th Street
North 29th Street & Hayes Avenue — November 30, 1961
Photos — North 32nd Street & River Avenue — November 30, 1961
Engine Company 11 responds to single car accident
The vehicle smashed into a firebox on the corner.
Photos — May 11, 1962
Engine Company 11 — May 11, 1962
Firemen-Cooks Vital
Camden Courier-Post — 1963
Out of Frying Pan, Into Fire
When the Heat Is On
By Kathleen Rowley
It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire at least some of the time for Camden fireman Theodore Orbaczewski.
That’s one reason Orbaczewski doesn’t wear an apron while serving as cook for his shift at Engine Co. 11, 27th st. and Hayes ave.
He has to be ready to leave the minute the fire alarm rings. “But you have to remember to turn the flame under the food or else another fire company would be over here putting the fire out,” Orbaczewski quipped.
THE ONLY casualty from a fireman’s lapse of memory to date has been some burned coffee, the fire fighter said.
Far worse was the mysterious disappearance of two apple pies.
“One evening Joe Dowhy and I were baking apple pies,” Orbaczewski recalled. “One was finished and the other was ready to go in the oven when we answered a fire alarm. The pies were missing when we came back.”
The 41-year-old Dowhy became interested in cooking while working for the Curtis Publishing Co. in Pennsylvania.
“I brought home the ‘Ladies Home Journal’ and tried a different cake every time I saw a recipe that was unusual,” he said.
ORBACZEWSKI, 42, started cooking in the Navy. “I started in the commissary department and worked myself up to cook,” he said.
Do the firemen like his cooking? “Well, nobody’s complained yet,” he replied. “Everyone’s walking around here with a pot belly now.”
What does Orbaczewski cook? “We chip in sometimes and have crab dinners and shrimp,” he answered. Other popular menus include meat loaf, and spaghetti with meat balls and sausage. Last year he and Dowhy “put up” 31 jars of tomatoes, peppers and onions.
But potato pancakes top the list of fireman favorites of No. 2 group.
“There’s no exact recipe for it,” explained Orbaczewski, who likes a free hand in cooking.
PRESSED for the recipe, he came up with the following:
POTATO PANCAKES
5 lbs. potatoes
½ lb. onions
3 eggs
¼ lb. flour
1 tsp. salt
butter or grease for frying
Peel potatoes and grate with onions. Add salt and eggs, beating eggs in. Add flour and mix in bowl. Using spoon, dip mixture into frying pan containing butter or grease for frying. Flatten into pancakes and fry until golden brown. Serve hot or cold.
Actually, Orbaczewski likes to cook anything. “When we have a lot of left overs we put them all together and make up something,” he said. “Like this afternoon—for a snack we have little crackers, a little salad dressing and some lettuce. I’ll make little lettuce sandwiches. They’re not fattening and they’re good.”
WHEN IT’S CLOSE to pay day and firemen’s funds are low, Hungarian goulash often appears on the menu. It’s made of peppers, tomatoes, onions, ground beef, celery, and anything else the firemen happen to bring in.
Have there been any failures? The only fiasco the two cooking firemen could recall occurred when they made pierugi—a kind of dumpling. After eating some, they wrapped others in paper. The dumplings fell apart when they tried to take them out.
Neither Orbaczewski nor Dowhy confine their cooking to the fire house. Both carry it over into the kitchen at home. Home for Orbaczewski is at 1066 Martin st. where he lives with his wife, Lucy, and their daughters, Sandra, 18, and Theresa, 15. Dowhy lives at 866 Beideman ave. with his wife, Pearl, and four sons, Joseph, 18, Dennis, 17, Robert, 12, and Edward, 8.
Retired Firefighters Visit Engine Company 11
1994
Front, from left: retirees Capt. Edwin Robbins, Captain Leonard Garbrecht, and Theodore “Teddy O’Brien” Orbaczewski, with active Captain Anthony Winters. Top: Fire Fighters Greg DePetris, Frank Saia, and Glenn Moore
Named: Edwin Robbins, Theodore Orbaczewski, and Leonard Garbrecht.
Named: Theodore Orbaczewski, Leonard Garbrecht, Edwin Robbins, and Anthony Winters.
Fire Service Card
Theodore A. Orbaczewski — Camden Fire Department