Martin Edward McWilliams, Fireman Was Selfless, Funny September 19, 2001
Amid the tears that streamed down the faces of the several hundred fellow firefighters, friends and family of Martin McWilliams, there was some laughter when his lifelong friend Michael O'Brien delivered his eulogy yesterday morning. O'Brien talked about McWilliams' inability to tell a joke without tripping over his words and inevitably admitting, "Aw, I messed it up." He talked about McWilliams' tendency to tackle a home project head- on, but ultimately completing only about 95 percent of it. That was the Marty everyone knew - a selfless, funny man who followed in the footsteps of several relatives by joining the New York City Fire Department. And as painful as it was for relatives to bid goodbye to a loved one killed in the World Trade Center attack last week, many of them will soon find themselves making similar trips. Three cousins of the Kings Park native, including a fellow firefighter in the same firehouse, are among the thousands dead or missing in the rubble that once was the Twin Towers. "We know we're probably going to be coming back," one cousin, who declined to give her name, said outside St. Joseph's Church in Kings Park after McWilliams' funeral. Rescue workers continue to search for Greg Stajk, 46, of Long Beach, who worked for Ladder Co. 13 in the Upper West Side and shared a firehouse with his first cousin, McWilliams, 35. Thomas Collins, 36, of Huntington, who worked in the financial firm of Sandler O'Neill & Partners and was McWilliams' second cousin, was confirmed dead on Sunday. Patrick Dwyer, McWilliams' cousin by marriage who worked in the firm of Cantor Fitzgerald, also is missing. About 400 city police officers and firefighters, many from McWilliams' Engine Co. 22, stood at attention outside the church. McWilliams joined the fire department approximately six years ago. And while the sense of loss was apparent among McWilliams' mother, Mary, three siblings and his neighbors in Kings Park - a community with a large population of city firefighters and police - many remarked that the person who could be the most affected by McWilliams' death is the one who is the least aware of the tragedy. McWilliams' fiancee, Lisa Goldberg, gave birth to their first child, Sara McWilliams, five months ago. "He adored Sara," O'Brien said during the eulogy. "She gave him a focus and means of expression not available to him before." The affection with which relatives spoke about McWilliams was echoed in their words about his beloved cousin Stajk, a former Kings Park resident and one-time star pitcher for Kings Park High School who was once scouted by the Cincinnati Reds, according to another cousin to both, Jim Stajk. "We're all shaken," said Stajk of Kings Park. "We're doing the best we can." More relatives will gather in Huntington today to honor the life and mourn the death of Collins, who worked on the 104th floor of Tower Two. Collins was the second cousin of Stajk and McWilliams, related through his maternal grandmother. "It's been absolutely devastating, but we've had a lot of mental and emotional support from friends and family," said sister Jennifer Collins-Hamel of Manhattan. "Everybody who walked in had a joke to tell or something funny to tell about their experience with Tommy." Though not related by blood, relatives said their hearts were equally broken upon hearing that Dwyer had not escaped the collapse. "We're all a very close family," said Jane Bellini of Colorado, another relative. "We get together all the time." Yesterday's service for McWilliams and today's service for Collins at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Huntington offer some sense of closure, but relatives still anguish over the uncertainty of the two family members whose fate is still unknown. "We're strong," Jim Stajk said, his voice wavering. "We're going to get through this. We have to all stand together and remain strong, and in their honor, fight this evil." -- Alfonso A. Castillo, Andrew Smith and Ann L. Kim (Newsday)

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