Joseph Maffeo He Had Princely Ways, Technician's Talents February
6, 2002
When Joseph Maffeo started dating Linda Dornes in 1995, he went
to the bank where she worked in Staten Island once a week and
put a big gerbera daisy on her car. It was a sign of things to
come for Dornes, who married Maffeo in June 1998. Over the years,
his wife said, she never opened a door for herself when she was
with her husband. And she would often wake up to find notes on
the bathroom mirror saying things like "I love you," in French.
Maffeo, a New York City firefighter with Ladder Co. 101 in Red
Hook, Brooklyn, died on Sept. 11 when he rushed to the World Trade
Center. He was 30. "When we were married, his mom said, 'I am
giving you my prince,'" his wife said. "She did give me a prince."
Maffeo grew up in Staten Island the last of five children and
the only boy of Jean and Louis Maffeo. His father is a retired
fire department captain who was on the job for 40 years. Maffeo
went to Staten Island Technical High School and
graduated from SUNY Albany in 1994 with a degree in geographical
information and spacial analysis. He joined the fire department
in 1995 and put his technical skills to use in the firehouse.
Whether it was fixing a door in the captain's office or getting
the department mascot (the pirate for the Red Hook Raiders) redesigned,
he always contributed, said Capt. Tom Giordano. "He was a smart
guy," Giordano said. He could have done any job, but he wanted
to be a firefighter." On Oct. 10, 2000, Maffeo's wife gave birth
to their son, Christopher Joseph. "He would just beam when he
saw the baby," Linda said. "He was so proud of that baby." When
his wife got up in the middle of the night to attend to their
crying son, Maffeo got up with her. "It's so hard to put into
words," she said, "how amazing he was." -- Steven Kreytak (Newsday)
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