Firefighter Richard Kelly got a rock-‘n’-roll sendoff yesterday as a live band played more than a dozen of his favorite songs as family and friends remembered him as “someone who enjoyed life.”
More than 500 mourners packed Snug Harbor’s Music Hall on Staten Island as another 600 stood outside for more than two hours in a lively memorial service commemorating the 50-year-old hero firefighter. They listened to loudspeakers that blared tunes such as Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.”
“During the past few weeks I’ve spent hours going through your music collection,” his wife, Carolyn, said in her eulogy.
“Every song is a memory. I long to see your smile, hear your voice and feel the warmth of your hand on my shoulder as we listened to music.”
Firefighters from Ladder Co. 11 and Engine Co. 10 – along with uniformed officers from New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland – came out to remember Kelly, a 23-year FDNY veteran who owned more than 3,000 CDs and loved to eat eggplant parmigiana.
“God, make room up there for happy fireman Rick Kelly from Ladder 11, because he’s reporting for duty,” said longtime friend Vinny D’Adamo, a retired NYPD cop.
Fighting back tears, Carolyn also recalled her husband’s zest for life, ability to make her laugh and kindness towards others.
“He was my best friend. Neither one of us could imagine life without one another,” she said. “Ricky enjoyed life more than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Kelly’s memorial was one of five services held yesterday for fallen heroes of the World Trade Center terror attacks.
New York Post - October 4, 2001