Bruce J. Hoek started to fish at the age of 3, when his father would take him to Sheepshead Bay to spend the day fishing. He never stopped. According to his wife, Margaret Wickers, he was able to maintain a year-round tan because he would fish from May through November on the East End and then spend at least a month on the water in Key West during the winters.
Mr. Hoek died of Lewy body dementia on Friday at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. A Springs resident, he was 73 and had been ill for four and a half years.
He was born in Yonkers on Jan. 28, 1948, to Joseph Hoek and the former Theresa Ponko. After graduating from Saunders High School there, he joined the Air Force. During the Vietnam War, he was stationed in U-Tapao, Thailand, where, a sergeant, he served as an electrician from 1967 to 1969 with the 4258 Squadron. He serviced KC-135 refueling aircraft and B-52D bombers.
He often flew missions over Vietnam with the crews while sitting in the jump seat. He was later stationed in Taiwan for six months before being transferred to Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass., where he served with the 99th Bombardment Wing until his honorable discharge in 1971.
Mr. Hoek bought his house in Springs in 1983 but divided his time between that hamlet and Westchester County before settling full time here. He joined the White Plains Fire Department in 1973, going on to serve for 20 years.
"He said there was never a dull day at work," Ms. Wickers said, "and he enjoyed cooking seafood dinners for his lucky fellow firefighters." He often worked the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays so his colleagues with families could spend time with their children. He also owned, operated, and cooked for the Saw Mill River Fish Market from 1982 to 1987.
In East Hampton, Mr. Hoek owned AAA Quality Coatings and Paint Contracting from 1986 to 2005, but lest there be any doubt about his first love, he was a commercial fisherman who "caught each and every fish with rod and reel from 1983 until 2018, when he sold his boat."
He volunteered for the board of directors of the Clearwater Beach Property Owners Association for 30 years and was the assistant dockmaster until 2019.
He and Ms. Wickers were married on Dec. 23, 2019, but they had been partners ever since meeting in 2004. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two stepdaughters, Virginia Haller Ehrensberger and Victoria Haller Marino, both of East Hampton, "whom he loved like they were his own children."
Two nieces, Amy Cochran of St. Charles, Ill., and Wendy Lauritsen of Fox River Grove, Ill., also survive, as do eight great-nieces and great-nephews. A sister, Joan Schaefer of St. Charles, died before him.
Funeral arrangements will be through the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. Burial will take place at Fort Hill cemetery in Montauk at a date to be announced. Ms. Wickers suggested memorial donations to the Springs Fire Department, 179 Fort Pond Boulevard, East Hampton 11937.
