John Chirpura was a city firefighter looking forward to getting married. He met his fiancee, Gina DeFalco, through a friend in the department. “Getting married was the sole focus of his being for the last few months,” said his brother, Gerard Chipura. “He was 39 years old and finally found the right girl. He held her so close to his heart.” A former Marine, Chipura started out in 1987 as a New York police officer. But he followed in the footsteps of his late father and joined the fire department, graduating from firefighter training three years ago. Gerard Chipura said his brother was always trying to help people.

“He wanted to make everybody happy. He didn’t want anybody to be upset,” he said.

--The Associated Press

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