Michael Clarke, 27, firefighter, smile 'lit up a room' - Farrell graduate requested transfer to busy Manhattan firehouse Date of Death 9/11/2001 - By Frank Donnelly Advance staff writer Thursday, 10/04/2001

He had no children of his own, but Michael J. Clarke was a second father to his niece and nephew. Two days before the World Trade Center attack, the lifelong Prince's Bay resident had taken his brother James' children, Tiffany, 11, and Jimmy, 9, to a firefighters' picnic in Sea View. They horsed around, snacked on pretzels and chips and reveled in each other's company under the warm late-summer sun. "They loved it. They had a great time," said James Clarke. "It was the last time they got to see their uncle." The body of Michael Clarke, along with 15 of his comrades, including his captain, was recovered Monday from the Trade Center ruins. The firefighters were found in a stairwell between the rubble of the Marriott Hotel and Tower 2. A three-and-a-half-year Fire Department veteran, Mr. Clarke had been assigned to Ladder Co. 2 in Midtown Manhattan. On the night before the attack, he had called his father, John, to say he would be coming home the next evening for dinner. Mr. Clarke was working a 24-hour shift, which extended into the day of Sept. 11. Previously assigned to Engine Co. 160 in Concord and Engine Co. 6 in Manhattan, Mr. Clarke had requested a transfer to busy Ladder Co. 2, his brother said. The firehouse is on Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street, in the heart of the city. "Most guys looked to be transferred out" of Ladder Co. 2, James Clarke said. "Michael looked to be transferred in." A firefighter by trade, Michael Clarke, 27, was a hockey player at heart. A goaltender at Wagner College and Monsignor Farrell High School, he recently backstopped Ladder Co. 2's team to a second-place finish in the Fire Department's citywide King of the Ice tournament. He also was an assistant hockey coach at St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School. Although he was a passionate New York Rangers fan, his hero was Colorado Avalanche netminder Patrick Roy. Roy's autographed photo hung over Mr. Clarke's bed. He also loved to hunt and fish. Mr. Clarke was a faithful and devoted companion and a doting uncle. Despite a seven-year age difference, James Clarke said he and his brother were best friends. "He was a friendly, lovable guy," said James Clarke. "His smile lit up a room. Michael was always the first one there when someone needed help." Michael Clarke was born in Brooklyn and raised in Prince's Bay. He graduated from Monsignor Farrell High School and Wagner College, and was a parishioner of Our Lady Star of the Sea R.C. Church, Huguenot. Surviving in addition to his father, John; his brother, James; his nephew, Jimmy, and his niece, Tiffany, are his sister-in-law, Kymberli Clarke, and his girl friend, Lori Adler. The funeral will be Wednesday from the Matthew Funeral Home, Willowbrook, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

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