Henry Alfred Miller Jr. To His Family, a Gentle, Jovial Firefighter
September 18, 2001 Firefighter Henry A. Miller Jr. had a lot to
look forward to in his life. A longtime Massapequa resident and
cancer survivor, he was to celebrate his 53rd birthday and seventh
wedding anniversary with relatives and friends next month. After
28 years of service with downtown Brooklyn's Ladder 105, Miller
was also considering retirement two years from now, finally yielding
to repeated requests from his concerned wife. But Miller was right
across the bridge from the World Trade Center last Tuesday morning
and, just as he did after the terrorist trade center bombing in
1993, drove one of the company's hook and ladder trucks to be
with his colleagues among the first emergency personnel at the
scene. Miller never returned and is officially listed among the
missing in last week's attack. His relatives and friends want
to remember him as the gentle and jovial fellow he was, a bulky
man who loved the sea, surfing and scuba diving, but who mostly
saw himself as a firefighter, always willing and ready to help.
Miller, whose father retired as a 38-year veteran of the department,
had been injured in the line of duty before, including the time
when he suffered serious smoke inhalation trying to rescue people
after the 1993 bombing. Miller was born in New York City and grew
up in the Rosedale section of Queens. Although he started studies
to become an accountant at Manhattan's City College, he soon decided
he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a firefighter.
He was of composed character, rarely raising his voice or losing
his temper about anything, relatives and friends said, a trait
that fit well with his devotion to help those in need. But he
was also a fun-loving Irishman who knew where to get the best
pizza on Long Island and in New York City, and who loved practical
jokes. When Miller was diagnosed with cancer about eight years
ago, he kept going with his work and life, eventually beating
the disease. He and his wife, Diane, married seven years ago next
month, and Miller was secretly preparing to commemorate the event.
When Diane went through his belongings this past week, she found
a folded receipt from the jeweler's store where he had purchased
a gift for her. His birthday would have been on Oct. 18. More
than once, Miller had the opportunity to retire but couldn't see
himself not helping people. "He was a part of so many people's
lives," said his stepson, 30-year-old Scott Freedman. "He taught
me how to be a man, how to deal with this. He was always a wonderful
father to me." Miller's relatives include a daughter, Melissa
Lansbury of Falls Church, Va.; his parents, Henry Sr. and Beatie
of Rockaway Park, Queens; a granddaughter, Rachel, 18 months old;
a brother, Wayne, of Far Rockaway, Queens, and sisters, Corrine
Warnock of Rockaway Park and Janice Testa of Valley Stream. --Víctor
Manuel Ramos (Newsday)
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