Finding
a Home
Gerard
P. Dewan was not a New Yorker, and he would have told you that.
He was a Bostonian, the son of a firefighter, who in turn was
the son of a firefighter. But there were no jobs going in the
Boston Fire Department, and so he took the southbound bus and
began his career in New York five years ago.
Gerry
Dewan, 35, just wanted to be a firefighter, said his friend and
landlord, Sean Cummins, also a firefighter. He was one of the
first rescuers to enter the twin towers. Along with 11 others
from Ladder Company 3/Battalion 6 in Lower Manhattan, he never
made it out.
He
is the first member of his family to die in the line of duty,
Mr. Cummins said. He was not married, but had always planned to
have children and move home to Boston. In the meantime, he found
a family in the Cummins household in Rockaway Park, Queens, where
he rented a basement apartment. Two nights before the calamity,
he was helping write the names of the Cummins children on their
crayons for the first day of school. "He finally found a
home with us," Mr. Cummins said.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 21, 2001.
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