Firefighter
Benjamin Suarez
Ladder
21
A Memorial Service was held
on November 2, 2001.
'I
Have to Help the People' On one arm, Benjamin Suarez had a tattoo of
his wife's
name, Sally. On the other was a tattoo of a dragon
entwined with the emblem of the New York Fire Department. They spoke of his
two great loves. Sally Suarez said her husband, 35, was about to end a 24-hour
shift with Ladder Company 21, at 38th Street, when he called to tell her
he would be late getting back to their home in Brooklyn because "I have to
help the people." It was the last she heard of him. Mrs. Suarez spends her
days remembering how open and generous he was. "Everybody loved him," she
said. "There was not one place we would go that people didn't know him. I
loved that." Because she worked six days a week and his schedule was more
flexible, he tended to accompany their three children to school events like
plays or football games. "Sometimes he would take the whole company with
him," she recalled. And he was romantic with his wife of eight years, reminding
her of anniversaries that she sometimes forgot. He wanted to buy a house,
but because she was so picky, they had spent two years looking, she said. "He
told me, 'I could live in a cardboard box, but I have to make sure you have
the house you want.' " (Legacy.com Article)
Newsday
Article