Yesterday was the birthday of FDNY Captain Walter Hynes of Ladder 13. He was born on October 2, 1954, and would have been 67 years old today. We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice that he made on September 11, 2001. May he continue to Rest In Peace.
Walter G. Hynes, a New York Fire Department captain and attorney who was well-known in the Rockaways, was among the many firefighters from his neighborhood who died in the World Trade Center collapse. He was 46. "He loved having his family around,” his brother-in-law, Fire Lt. Tom Farragher, said yesterday. Farragher recalled him as a popular figure in the community, who enjoyed taking his three daughters each year to Disney World. "He was very social. He just loved life.” Farragher said Hynes, a Belle Harbor resident who first moved to the Rockaways when he was 14, died when Tower Two collapsed Tuesday. Hynes, who worked in Ladder Co. 13 on the Upper East Side, got his law degree by taking evening classes at St. John's University.
When neighborhood residents had a legal problem, they sought him out first and often got advice for free, Farragher said, adding, "He loved helping people.” Hynes joined the fire department in 1979, working as a firefighter and then a lieutenant in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood before his promotion to captain. He was a member of the Holy Name Society, the Emerald Society and the Knights of Columbus. Survivors include his wife, Veronica; his children, Caitlin, Kerry, and Deirdre; his mother, Margaret, of Rockaway Beach; and his sister, Patricia Hynes, of Belle Harbor. (New York Newsday, 2001)
When firefighters were ordered to evacuate the World Trade Center's north tower, Capt. Walter Hynes, leader of Ladder Co. 13, was with his men as they descended the stairs. Somewhere on the way down, they found about 50 people in distress and tried to help them leave. Many never made it, including Hynes, a man who always made time for others. "His greatest personal quality was his generosity of time, spirit, and even his money," recalled his brother-in-law, Richard Fanning. "He was always the first guy to pick up a restaurant check or a bar tab." In addition to being a firefighter for 22 years, Hynes of Belle Harbor, N.Y., was a practicing attorney, Fanning said. "He was widely known throughout the community and throughout the fire department for being able and willing to provide free legal advice," Fanning said. "Walter seemed to have an inexhaustible reserve of time. He never turned down a favor." Hynes met his wife, Veronica, while helping Fanning move to a new apartment 17 years ago. Around the neighborhood, Fanning said, Hynes and his three grammar school-age daughters were known as "Walter and His Ladies." (The Chicago Tribune, 2001)