If there was an event happening in Slatington, chances are he was there.

Then again, as a longtime firefighter for a neighboring community, answering the call to duty was something that just came natural for him.

Walter Niedermeyer, a borough councilman and former mayor, died Friday at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Bethlehem. He was 81.

The coroner’s office said Niedermeyer was the driver of a car that hit a parked car at 6:57 a.m. in the 200 block of Delaware Avenue, Palmerton.

Public service

Niedermeyer began his mayoral career in January 2002, but was present as mayor for the council meeting one month before taking office.

In 2009, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce selected him to be Mayor of the Year.

Niedermeyer served several consecutive terms during his career. He left office in 2021.

In November 2021, Magisterial District Judge Thomas C. Creighton, on behalf of the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania, presented Niedermeyer with a certificate honoring him for 20 years of public service as mayor of Slatington.

Earlier this year, he was sworn in as a Slatington Borough Council member.

Niedermeyer was also a member of the Slatington Lions Club, where he is a past Lions Club president, and was also a member of the Venture Group, and the Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce.

In addition, he was also a firefighter in Allentown for 33 years, and continued to serve as a member and president of a firemen’s association even after he moved to Slatington.

Colleagues reflect

Bryon Reed, a former Slatington councilman who was with the borough for 22 years, said he and Niedermeyer were practically linked together their entire term serving the borough.

“I always would say to him, best mayor ever,” Reed said. “At the end of his term (as mayor) and (when) his (late) wife (Mary) got sick, he was dedicated; he still came to all the meetings.”

Reed noted that when Niedermeyer was done with his term, Reed was president of borough council.

“The thing I had to give credit to Walter, he wasn’t from Slatington, he was retired from the Allentown Fire Department,” he said. “He blended in with Slatington so well.”

Reed added that Niedermeyer represented Slatington and would go to the Lehigh County meetings, would go to the Chamber of Commerce, the Slatington Lions Club.

“He was just so involved,” he said. “It’s just amazing to see a guy like that pour his whole heart into it.”

Reed shared a funny account between he and Niedermeyer.

“We had this joke,” he said. “If there was a meeting and there was food, he was there.”

Reed continued in his praise for Niedermeyer.

“Walter was definitely an asset,” he said. “Walter was a great guy.”

Reed said Niedermeyer’s loss will be felt for some time.

“Every once in a while there’s someone like that,” he said.

Matt Guesto, a past president of the Slatington Lions Club who has been a member for over 10 years, recalled that Niedermeyer helped out with the Lions’ Club car shows and Christmas tree sales.

“When he handled the car show back in 2015, when it came time to muster the guys to get ready, he was there, and I think outworked some of the younger guys,” Guesto said. “To see an old guy running around to help people park cars and make sure they were in a straight line, he wasn’t afraid to step in.”

That, despite the fact Niedermeyer had been mayor at the time, stuck out in Guesto’s mind.

“When you think of a guy that’s a mayor, you think of a guy in a suit and ti, and he was always dirty like us,” he said. “For an old guy, he had energy, like ‘where’s it coming from’.”