Lt.
Michael Esposito, 42, loved family and fitness
Avid
sports enthusiast was involved in his sons' athletic endeavors
By
Diane O'donnell Advance staff writer Monday, 11/12/2001
Family
and fitness were integral parts of Michael A. Esposito's life.
The 42-year-old Eltingville father of two adolescent sons spent
all his leisure time involved in their sports activities and instilling
values they could carry into adulthood.
Recently,
Andrew, 15, and Michael, 12, became infatuated with the sport
of dirt bike riding. The father insisted his sons help pay for
their bikes so they would learn that they had to work for what
they wanted. After the bikes were purchased, Mr. Esposito bought
all the necessary equipment and gear so that his sons would be
well-protected when they rode in Englishtown, N.J. "The accessories
alone probably cost more than the bikes," remembered his
wife, the former Denise E. Palazzotto.
During
the past several years, the Fire Department lieutenant was a coach
for his sons' Great Kills Little League teams. He was always careful
to devote equal time to both sons' teams.
Summers
were spent visiting the boys' maternal grandmother in Florida
and going surfing. "He was always doing something physical,"
said Mrs. Esposito. "Whatever he wanted to do, he did through
his kids."
Mr.
Esposito competed in triathlons, was a former member of the Fire
Department's boxing team, and worked out regularly in the South
Shore YMCA. He would jog several miles a day when he was in training
for a Fire Department memorial run. In the summer, Mrs. Esposito
began running with her husband in preparation for joining him
in the Al Ronaldson Memorial Run. "He got me up to three
miles," recalled Mrs. Esposito.
But
the events of Sept. 11 forever altered the peaceful routine of
the Esposito household. Mrs. Esposito last spoke to her husband
the night before when he left to begin his 24-hour tour at Squad
1 in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He remains one of the 11 missing members
of his unit.
Like
always, the couple exchanged good-byes with a warning from Mrs.
Esposito to be careful. "He always said, 'Don't worry, I'm
in God's hands,' " recalled Mrs. Esposito. "I think
he worried more about others than himself. He was a selfless man.
I think all firemen are."
Mr.
Esposito's cousin, Frank Esposito, a Tottenville firefighter who
worked in Engine Co. 235, Brooklyn, is also among the missing.
"As
soon as they said it, I knew in my heart that my husband was there,"
said Mrs. Esposito, referring to her reaction to hearing the first
news broadcast of the attack.
During
the 20 years that Mr. Esposito was a firefighter, he had participated
in many dangerous search and rescue operations.
In
April 1995, Mr. Esposito was one of six Staten Island firefighters
and two police officers with the New York City Urban Search and
Rescue (USAR) team that responded to the Federal Emergency Management
Agency's request for assistance after the Oklahoma City bombing.
Mr. Esposito, along with the other USAR members, spent five grueling
days working 12-hour and longer shifts searching for victims in
the collapsed remains of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
The volunteer team's rescue and recovery efforts were acknowledged
in an awards ceremony hosted by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in City
Hall where Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and Oklahoma City Mayor
Ron Norick presented the USAR members with individual ribbons
and an Indian chief's headdress. Borough President Guy V. Molinari
also held an awards ceremony in Borough Hall and proclaimed May
1, 1995, to be "Finest and Bravest Day" on Staten Island.
Mr.
Esposito responded again to a request by FEMA in January 1998
after then-President Clinton declared five upstate counties disaster
areas because of a deadly ice storm that claimed the lives of
six people and left nearly 500,000 without electricity. In this
relief effort, Mr. Esposito was part of a team that de-iced power
lines and cables that were brought down by the storm's high winds,
flooding and crippling ice.
Although
Mr. Esposito had received numerous citations and awards throughout
his career as a firefighter, he never considered himself heroic.
"He
wasn't one for patting himself on the back," said Mrs. Esposito.
"He thought of it as his job."
In
addition to his work with FEMA, Mr. Esposito was also a certified
emergency medical technician with training in scuba and hazardous
materials.
Mr.
Esposito graduated from the Fire Academy in January 1981. His
first assignment was with Engine Co. 207, Brooklyn, where he worked
for a year before being reassigned to Brooklyn's Engine Co. 214
(nicknamed "The Nuthouse" by company members).
In
October 1988, Mr. Esposito joined Rescue Co. 2 in Brooklyn as
a heavy equipment and rigging specialist. He was promoted to the
lieutenant in May 1994, and transferred to Squad 1 a year later.
Squad
1 was like a second family to Mr. Esposito and, as such, whenever
someone from his "fire family" needed a hand installing
a kitchen or doing concrete work, he was there.
The
camaraderie that existed among the members of Mr. Esposito's firehouse
extended to their families as well. Every month or so, the firefighters
and their wives would make a date to go out to a restaurant in
Manhattan and see a play.
Recently,
when Mrs. Esposito went to her husband's firehouse to pay her
respects at an outdoor memorial, she decided it was time to bring
home some of his belongings. When she opened his locker, Mrs.
Esposito discovered it filled with pictures of her and their sons,
spanning each stage of the boys' lives. "I'm very honored
to have met this man, and to have been married to him," said
Mrs. Esposito.
The
Espositos met in 1982 at the former Hedges supper-club in New
Dorp. "Our eyes locked," said Mrs. Esposito, remembering
how cute he looked during their first encounter. "When we
were dating he used to come over and shovel my driveway, so I
knew he was a good guy. He was always helping my mother."
On Oct. 19, the Espositos would have celebrated their 18th wedding
anniversary. Born in South Beach, Mr. Esposito moved to the Bensonhurst
section of Brooklyn in 1986, where he lived briefly before relocating
to Valley Stream, L.I. He settled in Eltingville in 1989.
A
graduate of New Dorp High School, he attended the College of Staten
Island. For the last 20 years, Mr. Esposito also worked part-time
for A. Tranchina Inc., a Dongan Hills-based masonry company.
Mr.
Esposito was a member of Gateway Cathedral, Richmond Valley, where
he had participated in many of the church-sponsored retreats.
In
addition to his wife, Denise, and his sons, Andrew and Michael,
surviving are his parents, Sam and Rose; his four brothers, Frank,
Sal (Big Sal), Joseph (Jo-Jo) and Simone (Sam), and a stepbrother,
Salvatore (Sally Boy) Mingoia.
There
will be a memorial mass Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Holy Rosary R.C.
Church, South Beach. Arrangements are being handled by the Colonial
Funeral Home, New Dorp.
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