Philip A. Cameron III, 56, former Philadelphia Fire Department captain

Philip A. Cameron III, 56, a retired captain with the Philadelphia Fire Department, died of an apparent heart attack or stroke Friday, July 9, at his home in North Wildwood.

After graduating from Father Judge High School in 1972, Mr. Cameron worked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and for his father's paperhanging and painting contracting company.

In 1977, he joined the Philadelphia Fire Department. For nine years early in his career, he was with Engine 27 in North Philadelphia, where he made many close friends, his wife, Susan Tennesen Cameron, said.

He became a lieutenant in 1985 and was promoted to captain in 1989. He was often an instructor at the Fire Academy, where the cadets called him "Cap," his wife said.

He and his family were living in Northeast Philadelphia in 1988 when he helped rescue a man from a burning car on his street. Mr. Cameron, who was off-duty at the time, later told a reporter he broke the car window and opened the door, and then he and a police officer "yanked the guy out."

"This is what I do for a living," he told a reporter. The response was typical, Mr. Cameron's wife said. He didn't want any fuss, she said, and felt he just did what anybody would have done.

Mr. Cameron, who vacationed in North Wildwood since childhood, moved there full time with his wife when he retired in 2005. He loved making sand castles and playing in the ocean with his granddaughters, she said. He was committed to exercise and physical activity and kayaked, jogged, and participated in triathlons, she said.

He and his wife, who married as teenagers, enjoyed travel - especially to Florida and Jamaica.

In addition to his wife of 37 years, Mr. Cameron is survived by his mother, Mildred Cameron; daughters Amy Ezekiel and Heather Kriner and granddaughters Abigail, Natalie and Charlotte.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 15, at Ingersoll-Greenwood Funeral Home, 1201 Central Ave., North Wildwood. Friends may call at 10 a.m.

Donations may be made to the Firefighters's Widow's Fund, Local 22. 415 North 5th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123.