Sunday, September 16th 2001, 2:23AM
Hundreds of grim-faced firefighters joined family, friends and officials yesterday at the funeral of William Feehan, the heart and soul of the Fire Department.
It was a day when the department had to bury three of its best-known members, but still there was a particular poignancy in the funeral of Feehan, the first deputy commissioner.
"If you were a member of the Fire Department, you knew who Bill Feehan was," said retired Firefighter Vincent Francavilla. "He was the guy who knew everything."
Feehan, 71, was the only man in the department's history to hold every one of its ranks from probationer to commissioner, and he had trained many of the men who jammed St. Mel's Church in Flushing, Queens, to honor his memory.
There would have been many more, but firefighters were still needed at the World Trade Center for work that Feehan understood better than anyone - lifesaving work.
He had stayed on the job long after he could have retired because he loved it and long after most men would have been pushed out because "they all needed Bill Feehan to tell them what to do," an official said.
Those who could come, joined Feehan's sons, William Jr. and John, a firefighter; his daughters Elizabeth Feehan and Tara Davan, and five grandchildren.
Mayor Giuliani, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, Former Police Commissioner Howard Safir, First Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Dunne and Queens District Attorney Richard Brown also attended.
The crowd filled the small brick modern-style church, and many had to stand through the service, contemplating the coffin in the center aisle, covered with a cream-colored Fire Department flag.
In his eulogy, the Rev. Brian Barr said Feehan was "the type of guy who made everyone feel special. What made him such a great father also made him a great fire chief."
Barr warned the mourners against letting their understandable rage take over their lives. "We cannot become like the people we hate," he said. "We cannot become like the people who hate us."
Feehan, the son of a firefighter, was a life-long Queens resident. He was a much-decorated combat veteran of the Korean War and graduated from St. John's University.
He joined the Fire Department as a probationer in 1959 and rose through the ranks, becoming a lieutenant in 1964, a captain in 1972 and a battalion chief in 1979. He was later assistant and deputy chief of department and then chief of department, first deputy commissioner and acting commissioner.
"Bill Feehan was not just one of the great leaders of the Fire Department," Von Essen said, "he was a friend. It's terrible."
Feehan's son, William Jr., a banker, said his father was able to develop a special relationship with each of his children though he "loved being a firefighter more than anything.
"There was no place on Earth that my father would rather be in the world than at a fire scene," he said. "He was loved by so many people; he loved so many people. He lived every second of his life without regret."
Feehan's son said he had made a point of visiting the site at the World Trade Center where his father had died on the job he loved. "It helped so much to be there," he said.
Chief of Department Peter Ganci and the Department chaplain, the Rev. Mychal Judge, were killed along with Feehan when the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed Tuesday. Their funerals also were held yesterday.
A prayer written by Judge was printed in the program of Feehan's funeral:
"Lord take me where You want me to go; Let me meet who You want me to meet. Tell me what You want me to say and keep me out of Your Way."
At the close of the service, a single violin played "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."
Only a handful of firefighters lingered outside the church, most of them piling into cars for the mournful trip to Farmingdale, L.I., for Ganci's funeral.
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2001/09/16/2001-09-16_he_was__heart___soul__of_dep.html
No comments:
Post a Comment