Firefighter
Michael Otten
Ladder 35
Laid
to Rest
on ?????
Teamwork
and Tradition On the job, Michael J. Otten was a dedicated, third-generation
firefighter. He joined Ladder Company 35, near Lincoln
Center, when he was 26, and spent nearly 16 years there. The maiden name
of his wife, Marion, was Otten, an odd coincidence that made them a team
right away, she says. "We'd go food shopping together and he would want
to push the cart, and I would want to push the cart," she said. "He was
not afraid of cooking or cleaning or fixing anything or trying anything
new." Newborn babies didn't faze him; neither did fixing a broken washing
machine or putting a new wing on the house. "He was in a very comfortable
place in his life," Mrs. Otten said. "We were happy with what we had." That
included a four-year-old tradition: inviting the firehouse to a summer
barbecue at their house in East Islip, N.Y. The menu always went beyond
hot dogs and burgers, since Firefighter Otten watched cooking programs.
Recently, the three Otten boys asked their mother if she planned to have "that
fireman barbecue" again. And yesterday, with everyone pitching in, she
did.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on July 14, 2002. (Legacy.com Article)
FF
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