ELKTON, November 10, 2023—On a somber, gray, rainy day, hundreds of people gathered at the Newark Avenue firehouse to pay their final respects to Chief Frank W. Muller, Jr. The 68-year-old emergency services leader, who dedicated his entire adult life to serving the community, passed away on November 7, 2023.
Following the service, the funeral procession made its way to Gilpin Manor Cemetery with the 1921 American La France Fire Engine from North East carrying the casket. “Old 38” was joined by a long procession of emergency vehicles escorting the cortege to Gilpin Manor Cemetery. There, with full fire department honors, he was laid to rest.
The route to Gilpin Manor took the procession past the courthouse and his former fire station in the center of Elkton. As the motorcade eased beneath the crossed ladders of aerial units from Perryville and Rising, a majestic American flag atop the towers fluttered in the damp breeze.
At the graveside, the mournful strains of the bagpipe gradually faded off into the distance as uniformed first responders stood at attention. Toward the end of the service, the somber silence was interrupted by the crackling of a dispatcher’s voice transmitting the final call for Chief Muller over the radio.
Frank’s fire service career began as a 16-year-old in 1971 when he entered the ranks of the service as a probationary member with the Singerly Fire Company. This starting point 52 years earlier suddenly seemed very distant as mourners honored a life of remarkable service.
Frank headed to Ocean City to work as a “paid ambulance driver at the Maryland Shore,” after graduating high school. While rushing patients to the hospital on those busy summer days in the 1970s, the resort offered him an opportunity to become an advanced life support (ALS) provider, a new initiative across the state. He became certified, and as ALS demands grew at the Shore, Ocean City Mayor “Fish” Powell asked the young man to return to the class to become the fire department’s ALS instructor.
He eagerly jumped at the opportunity and started training generations of ALS clinicians. As the decade drew to a close, Frank returned home to Elkton, returning to his old volunteer role with Singerly Fire Company. In 1978, Frank taught the first class of advanced life support providers in Cecil County.
He also worked as a road deputy with the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office. As a certified law enforcement officer, Frank pioneered another innovation — the Deputy-Medic Program. Deputies were on the road 24/7, so why not have the officers certified as ALS providers support the volunteer ambulance crews, he reasoned.
With his extensive experience as a field caregiver and instructor, Cecil County hired him in 1988 to establish a paramedic program staffed by county employees. In 1997, Frank was appointed Director of Cecil County Emergency Services. The chief retired in 2007.
When Chief Frank Muller started with the department, it was primarily a Cold War agency, dispatching volunteer fire companies and planning how to protect Cecil County from a nuclear attack. Over the decades, he guided the department through significant changes as it took on many more responsibilities as public safety grew increasingly complex. After the September 11 attack, its work was significantly transformed.
As an innovator and leader, he guided the agency through tremendous growth, moving from primarily a dispatch and emergency coordination center to a government unit providing the full spectrum of public safety initiatives, including responding to natural disasters, hazardous material incidents, and attacks.
His unwavering commitment to the community, spanning six decades, will not be forgotten. During a distinguished career, the innovator established Cecil County’s EMS system and the modern Department of Emergency Services agency. Chief Frank Muller, a friend, colleague, and public servant, influenced many lives. He will be missed.
For additional photos of the service, see this album on Facebook.