The last person to see Firefighter John A. Schardt alive said he was smiling as he made his way to Tower 2 of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The chauffeur who drove the truck for Engine Co. 201, Brooklyn, told Mr. Schardt's wife, Jeanette, that he seemed happy to be doing his job. "Was he scared?" she remembers asking.
"No, he wasn't. He was thrilled," was the response.
Dedication to his firehouse was fundamental to his happiness, Mrs. Schardt said. "It wasn't a job for him. It was part of John, and I would never take that away from him," she said.
"In my heart, I know he would have gone (to the World Trade Center) even if he knew this was the outcome," said Mr. Schardt's mother, Margaret Schardt. Born in Grant City, he grew up in Annadale and Prince's Bay. He settled in Annadale with his wife in 1996.
He had an early aptitude for work. He delivered newspapers as a boy and was always ready to help his father around the house. He was also a natural leader, getting other kids together to play baseball or football. His zeal for organizing games carried over into his adult life.
"He would always joke about having enough children to form a baseball team," said his mother.
The father of two -- Robert (Robbie), 3, and Christopher, 1 -- Mr. Schardt didn't know he had a baby on the way.
"I found out the day after this happened that we're expecting another one," said his wife. "It's a gift. It's the last thing that he could have given me that's going to last me for the rest of my life."
A graduate of Moore Catholic High School, Mr. Schardt attended the College of Staten Island for two years in the late 1980s, and took the firefighters' exam in 1987.