Firefighter Robert
Spear Jr.
Engine 50 -
(Working in Engine 26)
Laid to Rest
on
April 13, 2002
When
the Spear family had not heard from "Robbie," as they called
30-year-old Robert W. Spear Jr., a firefighter, by late afternoon on
Sept. 11, they began to worry. He was always in constant contact with
his wife and mother, sometimes having rushed cellphone conversations
from the back of a speeding fire truck. The family's thoughts had been
centered on Timothy A. Haviland, Firefighter Spear's brother-in-law,
whose office on the 96th floor in tower one of the trade center they
saw burning on television. "I didn't think my son was there," said
Irene Spear DeSantis, Firefighter Spear's mother. "But of course he
would have been there. This is a man who took a sizable pay cut to
join the Fire Department. Anything he did, he did 150 percent." Firefighter
Spear took the entrance test for the Fire Department almost 10 years
ago, but it was not hiring at the time, his mother said, so he climbed
the ranks in other occupations instead. When the department finally
did call, there was no hesitation. "And he loved it," his mother said
of his job with Engine Company 26 in the South Bronx. "He loved the
camaraderie." (Legacy.com Article)
Newsday
Article