Firefighter Steven Coakley
Engine 217
Memorial
Service was held
on November 3, 2001.
Steven
Coakley, a firefighter with Engine Company 217 in Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn, had just finished a full shift and was preparing to
leave the station house when the alarm rang on Sept. 11.
Working
long hours was not unusual for him. Mr. Coakley, 36, would often
work back-to-back shifts for two weeks so that he could spend
the rest of the month either boating or at his house in Madeira
Beach, Fla., near St. Petersburg. He liked life in Florida so
much that he planned to retire and live there full time. "He
had just a few years to go," said Linda New, who had been
dating Mr. Coakley for about a year. "He used to say, '41
and done.'"
He
cherished his time off, but being a firefighter was also a passion.
"He
liked working at the firehouse in Bed-Stuy," Ms. New said.
"It was an A house, with a lot of action."
Ms.
New said Mr. Coakley never talked much about the dangerous parts
of his job, but would tell stories about the lighter aspects.
"He delivered five babies," she said. "Two to
the same mother, but at different times."
A
man who did not waste words, Mr. Coakley worked hard and played
hard. "Steve was really pretty young," said John Kauzlarich,
a friend in Florida. "It wasn't easy to keep up with him."
The
Beacon
Tributes
NBC6.com
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