Firefighter Robert Curatolo, 31, died trying to save others
Bay Terrace resident was caught in collapse of 2nd tower at World Trade Center
Date of Death 09/11/2001
By Stephanie Slepian
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
Friday, 09/14/2001

Christine Curatolo left one last message for her husband on their answering machine.

After telling him where to find her should he call home, she said, "I love you, bye," and began a three-day vigil with family and friends.

Robert Curatolo never heard her words, and a vigil of hope ended in the same nightmare that is playing out all over the city.

After his shift ended, the 31-year-old from Ladder 16 in Manhattan arrived at the wreckage of the World Trade Center to continue doing what he was trained to do — save lives. But sometime after the second tower collapsed, the firefighter lost his own.

His body was found yesterday under a rig between the two towers in an area near where his brothers, Billy and John, both firefighters, and Anthony, a police officer, had been searching since Tuesday.

"They were trying to figure out where he was and they were determined not to come home until they knew something," said Kathy Curatolo, who said the family is having a difficult time dealing with the numbing loss of their baby brother, the youngest of eight children.

Mr. Curatolo, a Bay Terrace resident, was also a longtime Advance employee, working in the mailroom for 12 years and driving a delivery truck on Saturday nights filled with Sundays papers.

He called his wife on Tuesday to let her know he was on his way to the disaster scene. That was the last she heard from him.

The two married Aug. 16 in a Disney World fantasy wedding in Florida attended by 85 Staten Islanders. After spending a few days with their guests in Disney World, the newlyweds enjoyed the rest of their honeymoon in Key West.

"A few weeks ago I was at his wedding in Disney World and now he's gone," said Charlie DeBiase Jr., an Advance sportswriter and one of Mr. Curatolo's best friends. "I don't think I fully realize it."

Greg DeBiase, who also works in the Advance mailroom, said the two were recently making plans to watch a hockey game.

"I was just talking to him on Friday," Greg DeBiase said. "That was the last I saw him. He was just a guy who, like any good friend, would do anything for you, and I would do anything for him."

"He was a great man, a typical family man," said Jack Esposito, another Advance mailroom employee. "He loved kids, he loved life, he loved his new bride. I am in complete shock."

Family and friends described Mr. Curatolo as a fun-loving athlete who would do anything for anybody. Nobody was surprised to hear the 1996 Fire Department Academy graduate was heading to the scene of the suicide attack.

"It wasn't surprising, and it wasn't surprising that they all went in looking for him," said Kathy Curatolo of the heroism and bravery of her brothers. "He's the youngest and probably the most generous. He would do anything anyone asked him to do. He died a hero doing what he loved to do."

Mr. Curatolo was born to Anthony and Mary Ann in Rosebank, where he lived until moving with his bride to Bay Terrace upon their marriage. He is a graduate of St. Mary's School in Rosebank and Curtis High School.

He enjoyed sports, playing basketball and traveling, particularly to Disney World. Mr. Curatolo was supposed to be on a plane today to Tampa, Fla., with 25 other firefighters. They were going to watch the New York Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

"He went every year with the firefighters to a different ballpark," Charlie DeBiase said. "He loved his job. I think the fact that he went down there after the shift ended says volumes."

In addition to his wife, Christine, his parents, Anthony and Mary Ann, his brothers, Billy, John and Anthony, and his sister, Kathy, Mr. Curatolo is survived by three more sisters, Dena Nelson, Christine Friscia and Linny Piccirillo; his grandmother, Dena Curatolo, and 16 nieces and nephews. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Interment Moravian Cemetery

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