Final Salute

William A. Volkert

Mayor Owen Henry said Volkert, who passed away on Aug. 30, left a mark on the Old Bridge community. He was 88.

“On my first day on the job [as mayor], he was in my office and he asked me if I was crazy,” he recalled. “My response to him was crazy people don’t know that they are crazy. He replied, ‘Mayor Henry, you’ll be just fine.’ ”

Volkert joined the Madison Township Police Department in 1956; it is now the Old Bridge Police Department.

“He rose through the ranks of the department and was named chief in 1980 and served as chief until 1986,” Henry said. “He also served his country proudly in the U.S. Navy from 1951-55 as a Seabee (naval construction battalion).”

Volkert served his community his entire adult life, beginning in 1951 enlisting in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, assigned to the Seabee Division on the commemorated aircraft carrier, USS Midway.

After his honorable discharge, his desire to serve was continued by joining the Old Bridge Township police force in 1955, retiring as chief of police in 1986.

He was a dedicated member of the Navy Seabee Veterans of America North-East District and member of the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.

Volkert was born one of eight children in Newark to Herbert Sr. and Catherine Volkert. He relocated as a grade schooler to Old Bridge, formerly Madison Township.

Henry said after his retirement, Volkert remained active.

“He was an ace mechanic and could fix anything,” he said.

He is survived by his son, former Old Bridge Police Chief William Arthur Volkert Jr.