Michael D'Auria always wanted to be a firefighter, following a tradition in his mother's family.
While waiting to take the test, he attended culinary school. This somewhat unusual route to the department did not go unappreciated. Many firefighters take pride in their cooking abilities, but as one firefighter said, "when we saw Mike's name on the board we knew we were going to eat good that night."
Mr. D'Auria graduated from the New York Restaurant School, Manhattan, in 1994, and worked in various Brooklyn and Manhattan restaurants before coming to Staten Island in 1999 to work at La Fontana, Oakwood, and Giovanni's Cafe, Eltingville. He also continued to pursue his boyhood dream of being a firefighter, going to the top of the list after scoring 100 percent on the written and physical test. "We knew he could do it, but when he did achieve those marks, I was so excited, I cried," said his mother, Nancy Marra. Her son was following in the footsteps of nine family members, including his uncle and godfather, retired Firefighter Robert Cimei, and another uncle, Lt. Bobby Perretta.
The 25-year-old Great Kills resident was sworn into the department on May 2. After training at the Fire Academy on Randalls Island, he was assigned to Engine Co. 40 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
On Sept. 11, he had been on the job for only nine weeks. Mr. D'Auria and the other members of his company on duty that morning did not return from the World Trade Center.
Born in Brooklyn, Mr. D'Auria was brought to Great Kills when he was 5 years old. After culinary school he lived in Queens and Brooklyn before returning to Great Kills in 1998.
Never having cooked as a kid, Mr. D'Auria surprised his family with his interest in the art. Inspired by a girlfriend's pictures of the ice sculptures and food presentation on a cruise, he saw something he wanted to do and pursued it when he graduated from high school.
His relatives in the department jokingly advised him not to tell anyone he was a chef. But he enjoyed it so much and was so proud of his skill that he would often stay and cook for the next shift at the firehouse.
His spontaneous and ambitious spirit resurfaced recently when he began painting in earnest. Within the last year he had completed several paintings, including one that was a birthday gift for his sister, Christina Rinaldi.
In the painting, a brother and sister about the same age are playing in a field. Although Mr. D'Auria was four years younger, the two often talked about feeling like twins. "I felt his pride and his pain," said his sister. "We didn't have to say anything to understand one another. We could just look." The painting did not need an explanation.
Although conflicting schedules kept the brother and sister from seeing each other frequently, they always had interesting and deep conversations. During a long conversation in the spring, Mr. D'Auria told his sister words that she remembers very clearly. "When I die it's going to be in a big way," he said, "and it's going to change the world."
Another painting, which he gave his mother, was of an angel.
While these prophetic words and paintings resonate today, they reflect Mr. D'Auria's spirituality, which was also symbolized in the books he was reading, including works by Deepak Chopra and Carl Jung.
"Forever is a long time, but you don't realize it until you lose someone," Mrs. Marra said.
(Staten Island Advance, October 18, 2001)