Dyker Heights Bids Farewell to Fallen Firefighter

By Linda Busetti

Mournful bells tolled at St. Ephrem Church, Dyker Heights, as thousands of firefighters converged at the funeral of Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino, FDNY Ladder Company 5, on a hazy Thursday morning, Aug. 23.

Linda Busetti and Ed Wilkinson Photos 

Firefighter Graffagnino, 33, along with Firefighter Robert Beddia, 53, Engine Company 24, died on Aug. 18 fighting a fire in the former Deutsche Bank building at Ground Zero, which was being prepared for demolition. Questions have been raised about inspections of the building’s standpipe system, which allows water to reach the upper floors, where the fire occurred.

In his eulogy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg promised to “get the answers” to the “difficult questions that this fire raised.” He announced Firefighter Graffagnino’s promotion posthumously to the rank of lieutenant.

FINAL RITES: The casket containing the body of Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino is carried from St. Ephrem’s Church, Dyker Heights, after the funeral Mass Aug. 23. Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Catanello sprinkled the casket with holy water before it was hoisted onto a waiting Fire Dept. truck for transport to Green-Wood Cemetery. Below, firefighters and parishioners gathered outside St. Ephrem’s to listen via loudspeakers to the touching liturgy.

Father Caleb Buchanan, a family friend, celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial. Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Catanello presided and represented Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio at the Mass, which was concelebrated by Msgr. Peter Kain, pastor; Msgr. John Delendick, Fire Dept. chaplain, and other clergy.

Many in Dyker Heights shared the heartbreak of Firefighter Graffagnino’s young wife, Linda, children, Mia and Joseph, and parents Joseph and Rose Marie.

Bruno Betro, who has lived in the parish since 1964, remembers seeing the young man “at the supermarket on Saturdays” with his children. He recalled Graffagnino wearing an FDNY T-shirt. “I felt so bad when I saw his picture in the news,” Betro said incredulously. “I couldn’t believe it.”

HONORING A FALLEN BROTHER: Thousands of firefighters, assembled for a Mass of Christian Burial for FDNY Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino at St. Ephrem, Dyker Heights, which was celebrated by Father Caleb Buchanan, above, a family friend.

Metropolitan area firefighters continued to fill the streets, joined by others with arm patches from Boston, Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario.

As she waited in gathering crowds across from the church, Gia Salmon, a parishioner for 50 years, called it “a very sad day.” The parish had prayed for Graffagnino at Sunday Mass. “Every time this happens, it feels like your heart is broken.”

Theresa Pastore watched the silent lines of firefighters in dress blue take their places along Fort Hamilton Parkway. Her daughter knew Graffagnino from the Salty Dog on Third Ave. where he tended bar part-time. At the popular spot a display of flowers and photo of Graffagnino were set up on the fire engine which is parked inside the bar.

Firefighter Graffagnino’s helmet is carried to be

presented to his widow.

Her daughter asked Pastore to come. Pastore was near tears as she contemplated the young man’s sacrifice.

“They put their life on the line every day,” she said, admitting that she had discouraged her own sons from taking the fireman’s test. She said she would never be able to sleep at night with the worry.

At ramrod attention, the vast numbers of silent firefighters watched two trucks from Greenwich Village Engine Company 24, Ladder Company 5, arrive in front of the church. A breeze moved gently through flags of the color guard standing at attention near the assembled dignitaries. The second truck carried the red and white FDNY flag-draped coffin high above the masses. Firefighters saluted as the coffin was removed from the truck and carried into the church followed by family and friends in a long procession in black.

“Where my Father lives there is room for all, where my Father lives a place will be waiting there…. I will bring you home.” From loudspeakers, the comforting words of the processional hymn carried out over the crowd.

Beginning his homily, Father Buchanan offered “all the prayers” of the diocese to the Graffagnino family. Father Buchanan, parochial vicar of St. Gregory the Great, Crown Heights, formerly served at St. Ephrem’s.

Words of Hope

Father Buchanan tried to offer some hope after “the darkness of these past few days,” saying, “on Saturday night all who loved Robert and Joseph experienced…the veil of death.”

During his four years at St. Ephrem’s, Father Buchanan had gotten to know the Graffanignos at Sunday family dinners. “His father was one of the head ushers and his mom was involved in the parish, too,” Father Buchanan said later. He met “Joey,” Linda and their children at these Sunday dinners at the parents’ home.

“Joey was fun-loving, open-minded, family-loving and community-loving,” Father Buchanan said. “He was proud to be a firefighter, but it was part of who he was. Off-duty he was a family man. He loved his family and his community.”

In his homily, Father Buchanan noted that Joey would have celebrated his 34th birthday on Aug. 20, Father Buchanan recalled, “He had a smile and face that lit up our souls.” Photos of the young firefighter “reveal a joy that is contagious,” he said.

He told the Graffagninos their love “is stronger than death,” and “God did not abandon Joey this last Saturday. God does not forsake those who protect us.” He said that the “same all-loving Saviour who rescued Joey in baptism” was there for him still. “God has not abandoned us. The Lord has not abandoned you who love him.”

He continued with the words of St. Paul, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing can separate us from the love we have for Joey.” At this Eucharist, Father Buchanan assured them, Joey would rise “on the wings of Jesus’ holy cross and Holy Spirit…Let Joseph go free.”

Preparing to pray the Our Father, Father Buchanan prayed “that Joey ascends the ladder to eternal life.”
After Communion, the mayor, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, and Captain Patrick McNally, FDNY Ladder 5, offered eulogies.

A Born Firefighter

They painted the picture of a young man who was “born to be a firefighter.” From his bedroom window on 78th St. in Dyker Heights he had only to climb the fence behind his house to get to the firehouse of Engine Company 284 and Ladder 149, where he spent his first years as one of New York’s Bravest.

“The family he loved and the fire department were the two strong legs he stood on,” Bloomberg said. He revealed that Graffagnino was also something of an Italian chef serving antipasto and ravioli suppers followed by his mother’s ricotta cheesecake to his brothers at the firehouse.

Graffagnino was an unabashed family man, bringing his four-year-old daughter to battalion softball games and taping a sonogram of his son in his firehouse locker. He was also a great neighbor, buying bags of salt to clear the ice from his neighbors’ sidewalks.

“His passing leaves a great hole in the city’s heart,” the mayor said.

“The FDNY is a family,” he concluded. “They and we will continue to be there in the days and weeks to come. ... Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino was a brave man who protected the people of this city and we will never forget him.”

Gov. Spitzer offered “the profound gratitude of the people of New York,” noting there was “not a dry eye in Dyker Height today.” He promised to “uncover the truth of what happened.”

The governor called Graffagnino a “role model” for the community who will be remembered as a family man. He said he was touched at hearing that a neighbor remembered Graffagnino carrying Mia through the streets on his shoulders. “Who will carry Mia now,” the man had asked mournfully. “We will,” the governor said.

Spitzer said that in the Book of Isaiah, the Lord asks, “Who shall I send?” Spitzer said that Graffagnino had answered, “Here I am, send me.”

Commissioner Scoppetta added, “We will aggressively pursue this investigation wherever it takes us.”

“It was truly an honor to work with him,” Captain McNally said. “He was a leader who always wanted to improve.” When he arrived at Ladder 5, McNally said of Graffagnino, it “was like he was always there.”

Each speaker assured the young widow that the FDNY would always be there for her and her children.

Captain McNally had called Rose Marie Graffagnino “Joey’s best friend.” After the men had spoken, she bravely added her own thoughts. She thanked “my church” and the FDNY for their overwhelming support and thanked local storekeepers for all the food they had delivered to her house.

“Joey always wanted a brother,” she said and wondered at how after all these years he had come to have thousands. “He loved his job and his job loved him.”
The firefighters, who she said would always be welcome in her home, “made this horrible tragedy lighter to bear.”

Final Commendation

Bishop Catanello offered the final commendation and words of consolation to the family, friends and firefighters.

“Death is not the last word,” the bishop said. “Love does not end at the grave.”

The bishop said, like Lazarus, Joey will be raised from the dead, body and soul.

Through the grace of the Resurrection, God will provide healing, consolation and peace for the Graffagnino family and the FDNY.

The bishop said, “This is our way of showing our love for you. This is when we are at our best.”

As the coffin was carried out of the church for the journey to Green-Wood Cemetery, it was met on the sidewalk by Bishop Catanello and Father Buchanan, who blessed it with holy water. Bishop Catanello embraced Linda Graffagnino and each member of the firefighter’s family and offered words of comfort.

The young widow was presented with her husband’s helmet emblazoned with the number 5 as the coffin was lifted onto the truck for the final ride.

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