Philip A. Mulleedy, age 90, of Elm Lake Rd, Speculator, passed away on April, 25 2024 in Speculator, NY, surrounded by family and friends.
A funeral service will be held at the Buirkle Center, Camp of the Woods, Speculator, NY, on Thursday, May 2, 2024, with Pastor Nate Towers of North Country Bible Fellowship, Speculator NY, officiating. Calling hours will be from 11:00 AM until 1:30 PM and the celebration of life and funeral will begin at 1:30 PM. Burial will follow immediately at the Speculator Village Cemetery on Elm Lake Road. Northville Funeral Service will handle the arrangements.
Phil was born in Providence, RI on November 4, 1933, to John J. and Marguerite Wise Mulleedy. After high school, Phil attended St. Joseph’s College in New York City and graduated with a B.A. in psychology. He became a school psychologist and counselor for the Diocese of New York until he became ill and moved to Speculator, NY to recover. He quickly found that he loved his new home and the Adirondack Mountains and decided to make the move permanent.
Throughout his life he was an outdoor enthusiast and animal lover and until the day he died, he loved to watch the many animals that would track through his yard. In the evenings, Phil would spend hours pouring over vet shows, zoo shows and many other animal programs. For Phil, the best things that happened in TV were Animal Planet and National Geographic Wild along with many other channels. He was a volunteer bird watcher for Cornell University, and in the morning at breakfast would do his daily count. His bird count always included the number of large, brown venison birds who were always present.
When Phil decided he would stay in the area, at the request of the Sheriff at that time, he took a job as deputy Sheriff for Hamilton County and joined the Speculator Fire Department. Along with a small group of men, he saw that the Speculator Ambulance Service, which was loosely run by the Red Cross at the time, was less than reliable, and decided to do something about it. They asked the Red Cross, who gladly turned over the ambulance vehicle and in 1971 organized into a corporation, electing Phil as it’s first captain. Fifty two years later, at the age of 89, Phil resigned as captain and took the role of advisory member. SVAC was well known in the north country as providing state of the art EMS service and training and was among the very first ambulance agencies in New York to staff the ambulance with all emergency medical technicians. They provided advanced life support among many other services.
To this day, Speculator Ambulance has never billed a patient. It’s revenue has come solely from voluntary donations.
From the inception of the Speculator Volunteer Ambulance Services, Phil became more and more involved in regional and state EMS. He served on many local, regional and state task forces and committees. In 1983 he was hired as the Assistant Director of the 8 county Susquehanna Adirondack EMS Program, and a few years later, when the council was separated into two, was hired as the administrator of the Adirondack Appalachian Regional EMS Program. He finally resigned from that position last April 2023.
Phil has received many local, state and national awards including the Hamilton County Senior Citizen of the Year, the NYS Outstanding EMS Administrator award and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians Laerdal Award for Excellence.
Phil is survived by his wife of 42 years, Joyce Schuurman Mulleedy; sisters and brothers in law, Brenda and Keith McIntyre of Lake Pleasant NY; Joyce and Edward Schuurman of Maryland; and Debra and Daniel Williams of Wells NY; 8 nieces and nephews and 16 grand nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to his beloved Speculator Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Inc. (PO Box 282 Speculator, NY 12164). Condolences may be made to the family online at www.northvillefuneralservice.com.
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