David DeRubbio loved to make people laugh, whether it was by pulling a prank on someone else or at his own expense. His family and fellow firefighters could always count on his sense of humor to lighten the heaviest load.
The 38-year-old firefighter's comic charm last came into play during a family gathering at his mother's house. While family members tried to watch television, Mr. DeRubbio broke into an impromptu impersonation of a lounge singer, as he straddled a stool in the middle of the living room and belted out a rendition of "Mack the Knife."
"It was so stupid, but it was so funny," said his sister, Angela Tiberi. "Out of nowhere he comes out with these things.
"His bright blue eyes were so full of life and his smile irreplaceable," she added.
"He was the funniest person I ever met," said his wife, the former Lorraine Holzman. "He made me laugh more than anyone. He was always joking around." In addition to his humor, Mr. DeRubbio will be remembered as a devoted Rangers fan who proudly wore the hockey team's logo on his fire helmet.
But his 12-year-old daughter, Jessica, is an avid Islander fan, making for some memorable good-natured clashes between father and daughter.
Mrs. DeRubbio warmly recalled that her husband would "suffer" through an Islander game with Jessica so that he, in turn, could take her to a Rangers game to see a "real team" play.
His love of hockey was not confined to being a spectator: Mr. DeRubbio also enjoyed hitting the ice with his fire lieutenant, Dan Nelson, at a rink in Long Island, and was a former member of a hockey league based in the Staten Island War Memorial Rink at Clove Lakes Park.
He was also known as a man who wouldn't hesitate to help someone in need. And that selfless nature prevailed the day the World Trade Center was attacked by two hijacked airplanes.
On Sept. 11, Mr. DeRubbio kissed his wife goodbye at 7 a.m. as he left home to begin his 12-hour shift with Engine Co. 226, in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn.
"See you later," were the last words he would ever say to her. Mr. DeRubbio's unit would cross the Brooklyn Bridge at about 9 a.m. that morning, with a full view of the horror they were about to face at the Twin Towers.
At 9:30 a.m. Mrs. DeRubbio received an anguished phone call from her mother, telling her to turn on the television to see the unfolding news of the attack. Immediately, Mrs. DeRubbio called her husband, but was told his unit had already been dispatched to the disaster.
It wasn't until later that afternoon that Mrs. DeRubbio learned her husband had gone into the towers. Mr. DeRubbio and three other members of his unit are among the missing.
Mr. DeRubbio had always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his three firefighter brothers: Dominick, of the 22nd Battalion, West Brighton; Anthony, of Engine Co. 235, Brooklyn; and Robert, of Engine Co. 248, Brooklyn. On Aug. 12, 1998, he realized this ambition when he graduated from the Fire Academy and was assigned to Engine 226, the same company he would return to two years later.
As part of the Fire Department's rotational training program, Mr. DeRubbio was first assigned to Ladder Co. 20 in Manhattan, then Engine Co. 290 in Brooklyn, before returning to Engine 226.
"He was a great guy to work with and fun to be around," recalled Mike Mason, a firefighter with Engine 226 who worked with Mr. DeRubbio as a "probie." After their rotation period was over, they were reunited.
Mr. Mason humorously remembered that when he first returned to the company he accidentally injured his ankle while exiting the fire rig. The unit transported Mr. Mason to a local hospital and Mr. DeRubbio carried his red-faced friend into the emergency room, laughing all the while at his predicament. When Mr. Mason was turned away, Mr. DeRubbio lifted his injured friend up again and brought him to another hospital.
In his leisure time, Mr. DeRubbio enjoyed reading from his collection of Mad magazines and listening to heavy metal music, especially Ozzy Osbourne. And when he wasn't rooting for the Rangers, Yankees or his favorite NASCAR race driver, Bill Elliot, Mr. DeRubbio could be found tinkering around with his car or helping a neighbor.
"He would do anything for anybody," said Mrs. DeRubbio. "He was always fixing everybody's cars."
Mrs. DeRubbio was introduced to her husband through a high school friend when she was 16 years old. They began dating five years later in June 1988 and were married in February 1989.
Mr. DeRubbio's daughter was the recipient of a Knicks ticket that enabled her to have a courtside seat next to Spike Lee at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 30. The ticket was donated by Lee as part of an online auction, which raised more than $101,000 in bids from an anonymous businessman who asked that it be given to a child of a firefighter. The money was donated to the Fire Department's Widows and Children's Fund.
Born in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn, Mr. DeRubbio moved to Sunnyside in 1987. He returned to Brooklyn the following year, living in Dyker Heights before settling in Bensonhurst in 1997.
Prior to joining the Fire Department, he worked as a driver for a food delivery service and for United Parcel Service.
(Staten Island Advance, 11/05/2001)