Gerard Duffy of Manorville, was part of the city fire department's Ladder 21 in Manhattan. He is believed to have died after the collapse of the south tower.
Before Duffy joined the fire department, he had worked in a bank, said his niece, Theresa Neider of Yaphank.
When he learned he was joining the FDNY, "he ripped off the tie and ran out and said 'this is it. This is my calling,'" she said.
Duffy, who was single, was a mentor to many of the rookies in the fire department, she said.
He was also generous about swapping shifts with firemen who had kids. "That was his other family," she said.
He was the "cool uncle," she said. "He was very easygoing, very generous and fun to be around." He loved to fish from Montauk to Jones Beach with his brother, Neider's father, and traveled all over the country going to Indy car races with his other brother.
"These people were heroes," she added. "They showed us we have to press on."
- New York Newsday