FIREFIGHTER, SUICIDE, FUNERAL, GARY CELENTANI, QUEENS
Sunday, September 29, 2002,
His 6-foot-3, 280-pound body was found in his basement apartment in Flushing, Queens, in front of a shrine he erected to honor firefighters and cops killed at the World Trade Center. Firefighter Gary Celentani, 33, took his own life Wednesday, September 25, 2002 with a single rifle blast to his chest - the FDNY's first suicide after Sept. 11, 2001. On a note, Celentani wrote that a recent breakup with a girlfriend drove him to suicide. Those who knew him, though, believe the roots of his desperate act originated in the pain borne out of the loss of so many friends on Sept. 11, coupled by the death of his mother, Mary, just a month ago. "He suffered so much loss in so little time he could no longer bear the stress," Celentani's sister, Christine, told mourners yesterday at Holy Trinity Church in Whitestone, Queens. "I wished he could have known how many people he touched.
" Days at Ground Zero Celentani was not working on Sept. 11 but spent many days sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero, joining other rescuers in a search for survivors. Ladder 54 Firefighter Jim Mattutat said Celentani must have known at least 50 firefighters who died in the attacks, and in the months that followed, he spent his days off attending their funerals and those of firemen he had never met. Among the fallen were Celentani's best friends - Firefighter John Vigiano II and his brother Joseph, an NYPD detective. During the eulogy, Christine Celentani said her brother pulled his first firefighting prank long before he joined the FDNY in 1996. He was still a kid living in Long Island when he hosed his father, Elmo, who had just arrived home wearing an elegant new suit and a fedora. Always a joker, Celentani once used a green Magic Marker to color the long white ears of the family dog, Kimba. "Gary was a very animated guy, a gentle giant full of life," said retired FDNY Capt. John Vigiano, John and Joseph's father. Celentani spent two years at Engine 233 before joining a rotation program that took him to Ladder 27 and Ladder 54 in the Bronx. His two older brothers, Ralph and Eugene, also are firefighters. He went back to Engine 233 in 2000 and in November transferred to Squad 288 in Maspeth, Queens. Squad 288 lost eight members on Sept. 11. One of them, Firefighter Timothy Welty, was a close friend of Celentani's. "Gary may be our first casualty of 9/11 who didn't die there," former Chief of Department Daniel Nigro said during Celentani's Mass. Among the mourners were several firefighters from Engine 233, who had held a memorial dinner for Celentani Friday night. Tall cups of thick vanilla shakes, bags of onion rings and many, many burgers blanketed the kitchen table at the Bushwick, Brooklyn firehouse.
He is survived by three sisters and two brothers, who are both firefighters.
At Saturday’s funeral, hundreds of firefighters turned out for one of their own. Bagpipers led the procession at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Whitestone as the casket was carried on a Deer Park fire truck.
Burial was held in Mount St. Mary’s Cemetery in Flushing.
Sunday, September 29, 2002,
His 6-foot-3, 280-pound body was found in his basement apartment in Flushing, Queens, in front of a shrine he erected to honor firefighters and cops killed at the World Trade Center. Firefighter Gary Celentani, 33, took his own life Wednesday, September 25, 2002 with a single rifle blast to his chest - the FDNY's first suicide after Sept. 11, 2001. On a note, Celentani wrote that a recent breakup with a girlfriend drove him to suicide. Those who knew him, though, believe the roots of his desperate act originated in the pain borne out of the loss of so many friends on Sept. 11, coupled by the death of his mother, Mary, just a month ago. "He suffered so much loss in so little time he could no longer bear the stress," Celentani's sister, Christine, told mourners yesterday at Holy Trinity Church in Whitestone, Queens. "I wished he could have known how many people he touched.
" Days at Ground Zero Celentani was not working on Sept. 11 but spent many days sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero, joining other rescuers in a search for survivors. Ladder 54 Firefighter Jim Mattutat said Celentani must have known at least 50 firefighters who died in the attacks, and in the months that followed, he spent his days off attending their funerals and those of firemen he had never met. Among the fallen were Celentani's best friends - Firefighter John Vigiano II and his brother Joseph, an NYPD detective. During the eulogy, Christine Celentani said her brother pulled his first firefighting prank long before he joined the FDNY in 1996. He was still a kid living in Long Island when he hosed his father, Elmo, who had just arrived home wearing an elegant new suit and a fedora. Always a joker, Celentani once used a green Magic Marker to color the long white ears of the family dog, Kimba. "Gary was a very animated guy, a gentle giant full of life," said retired FDNY Capt. John Vigiano, John and Joseph's father. Celentani spent two years at Engine 233 before joining a rotation program that took him to Ladder 27 and Ladder 54 in the Bronx. His two older brothers, Ralph and Eugene, also are firefighters. He went back to Engine 233 in 2000 and in November transferred to Squad 288 in Maspeth, Queens. Squad 288 lost eight members on Sept. 11. One of them, Firefighter Timothy Welty, was a close friend of Celentani's. "Gary may be our first casualty of 9/11 who didn't die there," former Chief of Department Daniel Nigro said during Celentani's Mass. Among the mourners were several firefighters from Engine 233, who had held a memorial dinner for Celentani Friday night. Tall cups of thick vanilla shakes, bags of onion rings and many, many burgers blanketed the kitchen table at the Bushwick, Brooklyn firehouse.
He is survived by three sisters and two brothers, who are both firefighters.
At Saturday’s funeral, hundreds of firefighters turned out for one of their own. Bagpipers led the procession at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Whitestone as the casket was carried on a Deer Park fire truck.
Burial was held in Mount St. Mary’s Cemetery in Flushing.
FIREFIGHTER, SUICIDE, FUNERAL, GARY CELENTANI, QUEENS
Sunday, September 29, 2002,
His 6-foot-3, 280-pound body was found in his basement apartment in Flushing, Queens, in front of a shrine he erected to honor firefighters and cops killed at the World Trade Center. Firefighter Gary Celentani, 33, took his own life Wednesday, September 25, 2002 with a single rifle blast to his chest - the FDNY's first suicide after Sept. 11, 2001. On a note, Celentani wrote that a recent breakup with a girlfriend drove him to suicide. Those who knew him, though, believe the roots of his desperate act originated in the pain borne out of the loss of so many friends on Sept. 11, coupled by the death of his mother, Mary, just a month ago. "He suffered so much loss in so little time he could no longer bear the stress," Celentani's sister, Christine, told mourners yesterday at Holy Trinity Church in Whitestone, Queens. "I wished he could have known how many people he touched.
" Days at Ground Zero Celentani was not working on Sept. 11 but spent many days sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero, joining other rescuers in a search for survivors. Ladder 54 Firefighter Jim Mattutat said Celentani must have known at least 50 firefighters who died in the attacks, and in the months that followed, he spent his days off attending their funerals and those of firemen he had never met. Among the fallen were Celentani's best friends - Firefighter John Vigiano II and his brother Joseph, an NYPD detective. During the eulogy, Christine Celentani said her brother pulled his first firefighting prank long before he joined the FDNY in 1996. He was still a kid living in Long Island when he hosed his father, Elmo, who had just arrived home wearing an elegant new suit and a fedora. Always a joker, Celentani once used a green Magic Marker to color the long white ears of the family dog, Kimba. "Gary was a very animated guy, a gentle giant full of life," said retired FDNY Capt. John Vigiano, John and Joseph's father. Celentani spent two years at Engine 233 before joining a rotation program that took him to Ladder 27 and Ladder 54 in the Bronx. His two older brothers, Ralph and Eugene, also are firefighters. He went back to Engine 233 in 2000 and in November transferred to Squad 288 in Maspeth, Queens. Squad 288 lost eight members on Sept. 11. One of them, Firefighter Timothy Welty, was a close friend of Celentani's. "Gary may be our first casualty of 9/11 who didn't die there," former Chief of Department Daniel Nigro said during Celentani's Mass. Among the mourners were several firefighters from Engine 233, who had held a memorial dinner for Celentani Friday night. Tall cups of thick vanilla shakes, bags of onion rings and many, many burgers blanketed the kitchen table at the Bushwick, Brooklyn firehouse.
He is survived by three sisters and two brothers, who are both firefighters.
At Saturday’s funeral, hundreds of firefighters turned out for one of their own. Bagpipers led the procession at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Whitestone as the casket was carried on a Deer Park fire truck.
Burial was held in Mount St. Mary’s Cemetery in Flushing.
Sunday, September 29, 2002,
His 6-foot-3, 280-pound body was found in his basement apartment in Flushing, Queens, in front of a shrine he erected to honor firefighters and cops killed at the World Trade Center. Firefighter Gary Celentani, 33, took his own life Wednesday, September 25, 2002 with a single rifle blast to his chest - the FDNY's first suicide after Sept. 11, 2001. On a note, Celentani wrote that a recent breakup with a girlfriend drove him to suicide. Those who knew him, though, believe the roots of his desperate act originated in the pain borne out of the loss of so many friends on Sept. 11, coupled by the death of his mother, Mary, just a month ago. "He suffered so much loss in so little time he could no longer bear the stress," Celentani's sister, Christine, told mourners yesterday at Holy Trinity Church in Whitestone, Queens. "I wished he could have known how many people he touched.
" Days at Ground Zero Celentani was not working on Sept. 11 but spent many days sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero, joining other rescuers in a search for survivors. Ladder 54 Firefighter Jim Mattutat said Celentani must have known at least 50 firefighters who died in the attacks, and in the months that followed, he spent his days off attending their funerals and those of firemen he had never met. Among the fallen were Celentani's best friends - Firefighter John Vigiano II and his brother Joseph, an NYPD detective. During the eulogy, Christine Celentani said her brother pulled his first firefighting prank long before he joined the FDNY in 1996. He was still a kid living in Long Island when he hosed his father, Elmo, who had just arrived home wearing an elegant new suit and a fedora. Always a joker, Celentani once used a green Magic Marker to color the long white ears of the family dog, Kimba. "Gary was a very animated guy, a gentle giant full of life," said retired FDNY Capt. John Vigiano, John and Joseph's father. Celentani spent two years at Engine 233 before joining a rotation program that took him to Ladder 27 and Ladder 54 in the Bronx. His two older brothers, Ralph and Eugene, also are firefighters. He went back to Engine 233 in 2000 and in November transferred to Squad 288 in Maspeth, Queens. Squad 288 lost eight members on Sept. 11. One of them, Firefighter Timothy Welty, was a close friend of Celentani's. "Gary may be our first casualty of 9/11 who didn't die there," former Chief of Department Daniel Nigro said during Celentani's Mass. Among the mourners were several firefighters from Engine 233, who had held a memorial dinner for Celentani Friday night. Tall cups of thick vanilla shakes, bags of onion rings and many, many burgers blanketed the kitchen table at the Bushwick, Brooklyn firehouse.
He is survived by three sisters and two brothers, who are both firefighters.
At Saturday’s funeral, hundreds of firefighters turned out for one of their own. Bagpipers led the procession at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Whitestone as the casket was carried on a Deer Park fire truck.
Burial was held in Mount St. Mary’s Cemetery in Flushing.
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