Patrick Lyons Family Man With A Lust for Life - January 30, 2002

Patrick Lyons of South Setauket lived a life that seamlessly reconciled the contradictory. He worked hard, as a firefighter and owner of a successful limousine business at the same time. Yet he would advise his wife to leave a grueling accounting job or forgo chores so she would have time to enjoy the weather. He was an incredible planner, waiting years to marry in order to be financially prepared for a family. Yet he could be spontaneous, traveling on a whim to the Super Bowl. Most of all, he was competitive at almost everything, but only for pure fun and challenge, his family said. "He worked very hard between those two jobs, and he played hard," said his wife, Irene Lyons. Lyons, 34, who followed in his father's footsteps and joined the fire department in 1990, has been missing since Sept. 11. That day, his squad, No. 252, was called to the World Trade Center. Since then, the family's consolation has come from the birth of his son, Patrick Mate, nearly one month after Sept. 11. "When he finally came around, it was wonderful," his wife said. "I don't know how I'd live without this baby. Every time I look at him, I see my husband. "I definitely believe Pat's in heaven taking care of me by giving me such a good baby." Lyons grew up one of five children. Patrick, the middle child, became known as his mother's "little entrepreneur" by age 5. Lyons was a strong athlete, playing varsity basketball, baseball and football at Plainedge High School. He attended New York Institute of Technology on a baseball scholarship, his father, Brian, said. Yet football was his obsession. A diehard Dolphins fan, he played football with the Fire Department team and the Titans, a Suffolk County flag football team. Last year, he went to Miami for the Super Bowl. With tickets going for $2,000 apiece, he joined a parking lot crowd watching the game on a big screen. He always found time for his family. He spent many weekends playing a fierce game of spades with his brother, Sean, of Mastic, and twin sisters, Kelly and Kristen Lyons, of North Massapequa. He also was very proud of his oldest brother, Brian, who received his doctorate in exercise science and is a college professor in Racine, Wis., his mother, Pat, said. And he often talked of his nieces and nephews, Caitlin, 9, Sean Jr., 10, Samantha and Brian Fuller, ages 5 and 3. No funeral arrangements have been made. -- Keiko Morris (Newsday) ************** Inspirational Firefighter Loved Having Fun January 18, 2002 As far back as his parents can remember, Patrick Lyons had a yen for competition. He accepted almost any challenge - whether it was collecting gypsy moths for a nickel a pair, playing flag football or winning at spades. Yet he never allowed the contest to take over. A life without fun wasn't worth much to him. "There was nothing he felt in his life he couldn't do," said his mother, Pat Lyons of North Massapequa. "And if something didn't work out he'd move on. And he succeeded." Lyons, a New York City firefighter who lived in South Setauket, was working overtime on Sept. 11 when his squad, No.252 in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, was called to the World Trade Center. A memorial service has not been held; his family hopes his remains will be retrieved. And, like many other victims' relatives, they are straddling the emotions of joy and sadness as they welcome Lyons' son, Patrick Mate, into this world and continually comb through the memories of the 34-year-old firefighter's life. "Pat was my little spark of lightning," said his mother. "He was my hero before Sept. 11. I didn't need for this to happen for him to be my hero." At the age of 5, Pat Lyons dubbed her middle child "my little entrepreneur," she said, because he was forever searching for ways to make a buck. He had his mom buy discounted packets of seeds to sell in the neighborhood for profit. He'd spend blissful days with his father and brother, Sean, digging for clams and hunting for crabs, which he sold to earn some money. During the Christmas season, he'd go caroling by himself to make pocket change. His father, Brian Lyons, said that young Lyons even turned his father's offer to pay him a nickel for every two gypsy moths he collected into a money-making venture. He went to nearly every backyard in his North Massapequa neighborhood in his search. "When I got home, there were two gallon jugs filled with gypsy moths," his father said, chuckling. "That's the kind of mind he had to come up with that." Lyons excelled at sports, playing varsity baseball, basketball and football at Plainedge High School. But football was his true passion. Irene Lyons, his wife, recalled the unplanned trips to Miami that she and her husband would take to catch a Dolphins game. One year, when the Dolphins played in the Super Bowl, he decided two days before the game that he would go. Prices for the game tickets were astronomical, so he settled for a good time in the stadium parking lot watching the game with a crowd of fans on a big-screen TV. "He was a really good inspiration to me," his wife said. "He taught me to live life ... He probably would have said something like, 'You have one life to live; can we make it a fun one?'" Lyons seemed able to reconcile his contradictory impulses seamlessly. Always ambitious, he attended New York Institute of Technology on a baseball scholarship. He became a firefighter around 1990 and a few years later started a limousine business. He caught up on sleep grabbing catnaps whenever he could. And though he gave in to his spontaneous impulses, he was also a meticulous planner. He told his wife that he knew early in their dating years that he wanted to marry her, but he wanted to be financially secure and prepared for a family life. After years of being together, he was overjoyed to learn that his wife was carrying their son. Patrick Mate was born Oct. 7. Lyons' philosophy of hard work, however, wasn't absolute, especially when it got in the way of enjoying life. He would advise his wife to leave a demanding job in a public accounting firm, to leave the dishes for tomorrow and to forego Saturday chores so she could enjoy a beautiful day. His vision of a good weekend could be a trip to a lake or the camaraderie of his mother's bustling household and a game of spades with his brother and younger twin sisters. Somewhere in his cluttered schedule he found time to play flag football as quarterback for both the fire department team and the Titans, a Suffolk County team. His teammates recently inducted Lyons into their Flag Football Hall of Fame. Lyons also sacrificed sleep for his ultimate pleasure - the calm of being on the water, fishing or clamming with his brother, Sean - even if it meant rising at 3 a.m. "A part of me wonders whether he knew he wasn't going to live a long life," his wife said. "I said that to my friends, and a lot them have said that 'Pat and Irene have had more happiness and have done more things together than anyone else in life.'" And that is what she sometimes thinks when she looks at her infant son, the one part of her husband she will be certain not to miss. -- Keiko Morris (Newsday)

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