Firefighter
Leonard Ragaglia
Engine 54
Memorial Service was held
on
November 17, 2001.
Leonard
Ragaglia made a mean breakfast. Long ago, his 11 brothers and sisters were
swapping chores for a meal of crispy bacon and eggs — sunny side up,
with unbroken, dead-center yolks. Later, he fixed his special omelets for
Donna, his wife; Anthony and Lennie, his sons; and the other firefighters
at Engine Company 54 in Midtown Manhattan. They were vast, wobbly things
with bacon, onions, cheese, potatoes and tomatoes, said Maureen Ragaglia,
his mother. His father, Leonard Sr., was a firefighter, and the younger Leonard,
36, had always planned to be one, too. He commuted from Staten Island, where
he was surrounded by relatives. Like his siblings, he and his family were
constantly in and out of his mother's house, where he would toss footballs
and pitch whiffle balls to his sons and nephews and nieces. "He was Mr. Mom," said
Linda Taccetta, an older sister. "He wasn't just a father at work. He was
with his sons all the time, took them to all their sports and watched pro
games with them. "He was faithful to the teams he liked," Mrs. Taccetta said. "The
Mets. The Dallas Cowboys. The Islanders. I'd tell him, `You're true to the
wrong teams.' Even when we were little, he was that way. He'd argue about
who was better — King Kong or Godzilla. And he'd pick Godzilla."
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