Thomas
Patrick DeAngelis - He Was 'Our Miracle in Our Life' - September
25, 2001
As
the hours passed that Tuesday afternoon, Patty DeAngelis did not
fear for her husband, Thomas. She knew that as a New York City
Fire Department battalion chief, he would be working at the World
Trade Center disaster. She also knew him as a man who came to
sound decisions under duress, a man who kept calm, a man who had
made everything turn out right in their 18 years of marriage.
But by 10 p.m., when he should have been home, her husband had
not even called. "I thought that he should probably have a break
by now," said DeAngelis, 44. "Panic started to set in." Two weeks
after he left their Westbury home, Thomas DeAngelis, 51, remains
among the missing in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York.
"Things really get harder as the days go by," his wife said. They
celebrated their anniversary on Sept. 3. Now she clings to the
memory of their last lunch together, the day before he vanished.
He would soon leave for a 24-hour tour at his firehouse on East
51st Street in Manhattan. She had stopped home from her job in
Garden City so they could spend a quiet hour alone. They shared
a salad and talked about the week ahead. He wouldn't be back in
time for the PTA meeting at their daughter Nicole's school the
next evening, so she would attend instead. "I gave him a kiss
and said, 'I'll see you Tuesday night. Be careful.' And that was
it," Patty DeAngelis said. Thomas DeAngelis was a chief in the
8th Battalion, overseeing Engine 8, Ladder 2. Nine men from his
firehouse are missing. After 27 years on the job, his wife told
him, he did not have to enter burning buildings himself. But he
did, unwilling to subject his firefighters to danger that he would
not face as well. He had always managed to stay safe. He was a
modest and humble man "with a twinkle in his eye" and a ready
smile, Patty DeAngelis said. In the five years he had been a chief,
firefighters under him appreciated his even temper. They called
him "Chuckles." DeAngelis, who grew up in Rockville Centre, spent
hours at the gym to keep himself in shape. Skilled with his hands,
he made everything from mozzarella cheese to furniture. He loved
to sail, and the couple had planned to buy a boat next summer.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Nicole, 14, DeAngelis is
survived by his mother, Maddalena Vallari, 79, of East Meadow;
two children from a previous marriage, Christine Caputo, 30, of
Massapequa and Thomas DeAngelis, 25, of Elmont; two sisters, Carol
Jacques of West Hartford, Conn., and Donna Smollen of El Segundo,
Calif.; and a 2-year-old granddaughter, Dana Caputo. He had another
grandchild due to arrive in March. Patty DeAngelis said she believes
that her husband was an angel assigned to this planet, and that
he was called back on Sept. 11 once he had finished his work here.
She is comforted by the inspiration he brought to the people he
loved. "Many people right now are still hoping for what would
have to be a miracle," his wife said. "I just want to say that
we've had our miracle in our life, and it was Tommy. And that's
just something that gives me strength." --Michael Rothfeld (Newsday)
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