Allen G. “Buddy” Kintzer Jr., 81, of Myerstown, passed away on Saturday, July 5, 2025, at the M.S. Hershey Medical Center. He was the widower of Joyce L. (Wagner) Kintzer, who passed away on April 18, 2002.
Born in Stouchsburg, on July 20, 1943, Buddy was a son of the late Allen G. Sr. and Anna Margaret (O’Donnell) Kintzer. He was a 1961 graduate of Conrad Weiser High School. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1962 to 1966. One of his favorite duty stations was Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. When he and Joyce returned home from the Coast Guard, they became owners of the former Mary Elton Restaurant (current location of the Country Faire Restaurant) and ran it from 1966 to 1981. After selling the Mary Elton, he was hired by Hershey Park in the First Aid Department. Within a few years, he was named Chief of Emergency Medical Services at Hershey Park. He served in that capacity for 43 years until his retirement on May 1, 2025. Co-workers at Hershey Park knew him as “Al.”
Buddy joined the Myerstown First Aid Unit on Jan. 1, 1967, and served as the Captain/Chief for 47 years. He held certifications as an EMT Instructor and CPR Instructor. He received the Lebanon County Ambulance Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. In 2023, he received the Dr. George Moerkirk Memorial Contributions to EMS award for his “Life Long” work in EMS. He was an instructor, teacher, and mentor to countless providers in Lebanon, Berks, and Dauphin counties. He began his volunteer firefighting career when he joined the Keystone Hook and Ladder Co #1-Myerstown on Sept. 7, 1967. From 1974 to 1993, he was the 1st Assistant Chief, and in 1994, he became a life member of the Keystone. In 1983, he became a PA-Certified Vehicle Rescue Instructor. He would go on to teach Vehicle Rescue techniques to hundreds of firefighters across the Commonwealth of PA. He retired as an instructor in 2005.
Buddy had a number of hobbies — snowmobiling in Maine and surf fishing on the beaches of North Carolina, where he would return many times to Portsmouth Island, and the beaches of Cape Hatteras. He enjoyed boating and was a certified USCG Boating Safety Instructor for 10 years. He spent many hours boating on Chesapeake Bay and the waters off Lewes, Delaware, fishing. In 2000, he and his wife traveled by boat from Northeast Maryland, down the east coast of the U.S, around the Florida Keys, and up to Panama City, Florida — a distance of about 1,700 miles. He was an avid water skier and helped many to learn to ski on Raystown Lake.
Buddy is survived by his sister, Judith, wife of Michael White; and nephews, Sid, Michael, and Timothy. He was preceded in death by his brother, Matthew Kintzer.
A visitation with family and friends will be held on Saturday, July 12, 2025, from 9-11:30 a.m., with services beginning at 11:30 a.m., all to be held at the Myerstown Church of the Brethren, 51 W. Stoever Ave., Myerstown, PA 17067. Interment in Heidelberg Brethren Church Cemetery-Reistville. The family is kindly requesting that no Fire or EMS Apparatus be present at the events on Saturday.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Myerstown First Aid Unit, 11 E. Jefferson St., Myerstown, PA 17067, or Keystone Hook & Ladder Co. #1, 25 S. Railroad St., Myerstown, PA 17067.
