More than 25 years ago, Kevin Delano, 54, married the love of his life, Rosann, at Our Lady of Grace Church in Howard Beach. On Monday, August 4, hundreds filled the pews of the same house of worship to bid a tearful farewell to the hero firefighter.
Delano, who served as Chief of the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department (WHBVFD) for 12 years, died on Wednesday, July 30 from leukemia, which friends and family members believe resulted from his exposure to the wreckage of the World Trade Center on 9/11, where he helped in rescue efforts for more than 40 consecutive hours, according to Mitchell Udowitch, Delano’s friend and an ex-Captain of the WHBVFD.
“It was only 54 years, but they were the best I could have asked for,” Delano’s son, Kevin, an FDNY dispatcher in Brooklyn, said. “I can’t put into words what my father meant to me.”
While Delano served as a volunteer, he was employed as a member of the United States Coast Guard, according to Udowitch. After serving for four years, he became a federal firefighter stationed on Governor’s Island, where he remained for 11 years, when he received the call to become a New York City Transit police officer, assigned to patrol the subways in Brooklyn.
Less than two years later, Delano joined the Fire Department with Ladder 146 in Brooklyn and was soon transferred to Ladder 142 in Ozone Park, so he could be closer to home and his family.
“He worried about friends and family first, then himself,” said Kevin Jr., who recalled his father as selfless.
Men, women and children, who were either attending the services or just passing by, stood and watched as friends and family members — some carrying flowers, others sobbing and clutching each other for support — were surrounded by a sea of blue.
A few hundred people paid their respects to the well-loved former cop, including members of the Massapequa, Broad Channel, Elmont and Babylon fire departments.
“The definition of heroism is that heroes run into buildings when others run out,” said Father Anthony Rucando, pastor of Our Lady of Grace, during the funeral Mass. “They’re fools in some aspects but heroic in others because they don’t think of themselves. He [Delano] gave his life for us when others wouldn’t go near.”
Rucando added, as his voice filled with emotion, “We honor you because you have been foolish. For all of Kevin’s dedication, heroism and his ability to be foolish for other people, he comes to God.”
Delano’s brother, Gerard, spoke for the members of his family. “My brother was a lucky man, he was blessed with a life of love,” he said. “When the [fire] alarm went off, he’d get up to help someone in need. My brother Kevin had a full life, even though it was cut short.” Gerard added, “During our time in the hospital, Kevin never complained.”
After the 9/11 rescue efforts, the FDNY retired 35-year service member Delano. He then moved out of Hamilton Beach to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, Udowitch said. But, within a few short years of moving, Delano was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with leukemia.
He battled the disease into remission until seven months ago, when his doctors told him he needed a bone marrow transplant. His sister, Patti Fogarty of Howard Beach, was a perfect match.
Without hesitation she donated stem cells to her brother, which his body accepted.
“He fought a long, hard battle,” Kevin Jr. said. “She [Fogarty] gave us seven more months we wouldn’t have had with him.”
Two weeks ago, Delano was rushed to the hospital near his home, and then flown by helicopter to Penn State Medical Center, in Hershey, PA, where he was listed in critical condition, Udowitch said.
On Wednesday morning, July 30, with his family by his bedside, Delano lost his five-year battle with cancer.
Five days later, nine men picked up Delano’s coffin and carried it out as “Amazing Grace” was played. A large American flag was placed over the coffin before it was carried to the back of a fire truck. The words “Never Forget” were emblazoned on the windshield of the truck as it carried Delano’s body on a final drive-by of the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department, before proceeding to St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.
“The outpouring of support from everyone he touched has left a mark on my life,” Kevin Jr. said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better way to send him off.”
During a brief graveside service, the United States Coast Guard presented Delano’s widow with the American flag that draped the coffin.
Kevin M. Delano, Sr. is survived by his wife Rosann; his son Kevin Michael, Jr.; two brothers, Raymond and Gerard; seven sisters: Barbara Jean, Loretta, Patti, Cathy, Maureen, Jeananne and Vicky; his mother-in-law, Harriett Pannhorst, who Kevin Jr. referred to as “the rock in our family” while Delano was in the fight for his life.
“I have nothing but pride in what my father did,” the younger Delano said. “He will never be forgotten.”
The West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department will be accepting donations to help the Delano family offset the medical expenses, totaling more than a million dollars. Donations can be made to Rosann Delano and sent to the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Corps at Post Office Box 77, Howard Beach, New York 11414.
Additional reporting by Tonia N. Cimino
