Park Pavilion Dedicated In Honor of Ambulance Corps Member Killed In The Line Of Duty

SEA ISLE CITY– On October 24, Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio, members of the Sea Isle Ambulance Corps and over 100 guests gathered at Sea Isle City’s Townsend Inlet Waterfront Park to honor the memory of Nile. R. Linn, Sr, an ambulance corps member who died in the line of duty 38 years ago. In July, 1972, Linn responded to an ambulance call from the United States Coast Guard, who requested aid for two mariners involved in a boating accident under the Townsend Inlet Bridge. After loading a patient into an ambulance, a strong gust of wind caused the ambulance door to strike Linn in the chest and head. The ambulance corps volunteer collapsed in cardiac arrest and soon after died on the scene.
Originally from the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Linn had an impressive 38-year service record with the Philadelphia Fire Department, where he served as a fire fighter for ten years, a Chief Aid with Battalion #9 for another decade and later as an I.A.F.F. Union Steward before retiring and moving to Townsend Inlet with his wife, Margaret. Once in Sea Isle City full-time, where his family had a summer home for years, Linn worked for the City of Sea Isle City as a mechanic for the fire department and as a dispatcher for the police department. He also landed a job with the Cape May County Bridge Commission as a toll collector on the Townsend Inlet Bridge – just steps from where he lost his life in 1972.
On October 24, with Linn’s four children and other family members looking on, Mayor Desiderio dedicated the park’s pavilion in Linn’s honor and proclaimed October 24, 2010 “Nile R. Linn, Sr. Day.” The mayor also unveiled a stone monument near the base of the pavilion, which is inscribed with the words “He gave his life saving another.”
“Nile is not forgotten,” said Mayor Desiderio. “We have wanted to make this dedication for some time, and that’s why two of our former commissioners, Angel Dalrymple and Jim Iannone, are here today. This dedication is long overdue, and we are very happy that this day has finally arrived.”
“He certainly deserves this honor,” said the mayor’s mother, Carmel Desiderio, who was also present at the ceremony. “Nile was a good man who cared about this community, and it is wonderful that this monument will be here forever.”
In addition to the monument at Townsend Inlet Park, it is clear that Nile Linn’s memory — and legacy — is living on. For 27 years, his daughter, Phyllis Linn, has been a member of the Sea Isle Ambulance Corps, where she currently serves as the organization’s Chief.