Heroism in their blood
A tight-knit family of city civil servants will be spending Father’s Day weekend remembering their beloved patriarch, a retired FDNY battalion chief who died of COVID-19 complications and was buried with a vial of blood belonging to his son, a New York City firefighter killed on 9/11.
Years ago, Chief Edward Henry and his wife Alice made a pact: whoever died first would be buried with a vial of blood belonging to their son Joseph Henry, who was killed when terrorists destroyed the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001. His remains were never recovered, relatives said.
Nearly 20 years later, a global crisis of a different sort claimed the retired chief, his family said.
The 79-year-old Henry died on May 5 from coronavirus — a disease complicated by the fact that the retired chief already suffered from a 9/11-related illness. His lungs were permanently damaged on 9/11, when Henry, who responded with his firehouse, was briefly buried alive in the falling tower debris, and in subsequent weeks as he breathed in the toxic soup on the pile searching for his son and victims of the attack.
As the family had wanted, Henry was buried May 13 with a vial of his son Joseph Henry’s blood, which the young Bravest donated when he was still a probationary firefighter.
On Saturday, Chief Henry’s family, which includes his five surviving children and 10 grandchildren will meet up for a pre-Father’s Day celebration in Breezy Point, Queens. Because of the pandemic, it will be the first time the entire family will be together since the sociallydistanced funeral.
“It will definitely be tough being this will be the first Father’s Day without him,” Michael Henry, a retired FDNY lieutenant, said. “But my mother’s doing well. We’re a very religious Irish Catholic family and she firmly believes that my father and my brother Joey are together now. It put her at ease.”
On 9/11, Firefighter Joseph Patrick Henry, 25, was assigned to Ladder 21 near the Javits Center when terrorists slammed two jets into the twin towers. He was one of seven men from his firehouse who died when the south tower collapsed.
At his father’s burial, Joey’s name was added to Chief Henry’s headstone, Michael said.
“There was no equipment and no body,” Michael, 54, said of his fallen younger brother. “Up until now we didn’t know where to go to mourn him. It’s giving us a sense of closure.”
Following in his father’s footsteps, Edward Henry spent 40 years in the FDNY, 24 of those as battalion chief before retiring in 2002. Three of his six children, Michael, Edward and Joey, became firefighters like their dad, with Michael and Edward both retiring as lieutenants. A fourth son, Danny, became a Port Authority police officer and Henry’s two daughters, Kathleen and Mary, both work for the city Department of Education.
His family is planning a memorial service once the coronavirus lockdown is over so more family, friends and colleagues will be able to pay their respects, Michael said.
“At the funeral, there were firefighters from his old firehouse standing at attention outside the cemetery, standing six feet apart from each other,” Edward Henry remembered. “We were really touched. After being a chief for 24 years, he touched a lot of people.”
“We were told that if he didn’t die during the pandemic, his funeral would have filled St. Patrick’s Cathedral,” his proud son said.