Lieutenant
Daniel O'Callaghan
Ladder 4
Memorial
Service
was held on
Saturday, November 10, 2001
Always
at the Ready Summer and winter, morning, noon and night, Lt.
Daniel O'Callaghan wore his thick black bunker pants around
the Ladder Company 4 firehouse in Midtown Manhattan. "It would
be 102 degrees out, and he'd be wearing his bunker gear," said
Al Schwartz, a firefighter who drove the truck with the lieutenant
sitting up front beside him. "He was always ready to charge
in." This was a man who set the Fire Department like a seal
upon his heart as well as a seal upon his arm. But he also taped
paintings by his 6-year-old daughter, Rhiannon Rose, to his
office walls at the firehouse, and when he left his house would
back his pickup truck up the street just to wave goodbye one
more time to his 17-month-old, Connor Daniel. And when he left
their home in Smithtown, N.Y., to work a 24-hour shift, he left
a trail of Post-It notes in places where his family would find
them: the dresser drawers, the refrigerator, the pillows. "He'd
draw smiley faces on them," said his wife, Rhonda, who married
him on his 31st birthday, "and he'd write 'I love you' or 'I
miss you' on them." A lot of firemen work second jobs to make
ends meet. But not Lieutenant O'Callaghan, who would have turned
43 today. "He was always with us," his wife said. "I'm glad,
because my daughter has all these special memories." He usually
carried a battered prayer card with a book of matches stapled
to it in his jacket pocket. It was his good-luck charm. On Sept.
11, he left it behind. Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES
on February 3, 2002. O'CALLAGHAN-Daniel, of Smithtown, on September
11th, 2001, in his 42nd year. A Lieutenant with the New York
City Fire Department -Ladder 4- who lost his life tragically
in the line of duty while trying to help others at the World
Trade Center disaster. Also a former New York City Police Officer.
Beloved husband of Rhonda Lee (nee Smith). Loving daddy to Rhiannon
Rose and Connor Daniel. Cherished son of William and the late
Gladys O'Callaghan. Fond son- in law of Roseann and Ronald Smith.
Dear brother of William, Maureen, Joseph, Timothy, Helene Caspar
and Michael O'Callaghan. Brother- in-law to Margaret, Susan,
Alice, and April O'Callaghan, John Caspar, and Susan and Ronald
Smith. He is survived by his twenty nieces and nephews whom
he loved dearly, many friends and his fellow firefighters. Family
and friends may visit Thursday, November 8th, 7-9:30PM and Friday,
November 9th, 2-4 and 7-9:30PM at the Branch Funeral Home, 190
East Nain Street,Smithtown. A memorial mass will be held at
St. Patrick's Church, 280 East Main Street, Smithtown, on Saturday,
November 10th at 11:00AM. In lieu of flowers the family would
appreciate donations to FDNY Engine 54/Ladder 4/ Battalion 9
Memorial Fund, 782 8th Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10036, the N.Y. Firefighters
Burn Center Foundation, c/o Engine 65, 21 Asch Loop, Bronx,
N.Y. 10475, or your favorite charity. (Legacy.com Article)
Newsday
Article