‘ALWAYS GIVING TO OTHERS’
Fallen firefighter remembered as ‘the better teacher’
Fallen Boston firefighter Justin Poitras was a hero in life and a hero in death.
The 31-year-old former Marine whose smile lit up a room died on July 4, a day after he was injured in a motorcycle crash in Dorchester. His organs, his family said, were donated and saved the lives of six people.
“Even at the very end, donating his organs to six people, he was always giving to others,” Father John Unni told the packed congregation who came to say goodbye to Justin at yesterday’s funeral Mass at St. Rita Church in Lowell.
Justin’s father, Mark, told Father Unni his son “was someone who would put his life on the line for others.”
Firefighters from Boston and Lowell, where his brother Joshua is a firefighter, filled the parish.
“I was your big brother,” Joshua said, delivering his brother’s eulogy, “but perhaps you were the better teacher.”
Joshua recalled being struck with pride many times over the years as his brother earned a bachelor’s degree and gave a cousin a place to stay while she finished her own degree.
“Or the life you saved by having the courage to do CPR on a stranger on the streets of Wellesley, in addition to the many lives you saved in just a short time … with the Boston Fire Department,” Joshua said.
But what best captured the “type of kid” his brother was, Joshua said, was the playlist he found in his brother’s account called, “Mom’s old favorite songs.”
At times, Joshua’s voice cracked with emotion but he shared stories that filled the church with laughter, like the time Justin washed a chicken with dish soap before cooking it.
“Growing up, we shared every waking moment together, whether we were secretly throwing rocks at cars as they drove by or having our own WWF Monday Night Raw on mom’s bed,” Joshua recalled. “We were in it to win it together.”
Justin grew up in Lowell and moved to Nashua, N.H., during high school. After graduating, Justin joined the Marines and served for four years before being honorably discharged as a lance corporal. Justin was deployed in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After his service, Justin graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston and became a firefighter 18 months ago, stationed at Engine 42 in Roxbury. He volunteered at Shriners Hospital and was Mr. January in this year’s Boston Firefighters Burn Foundation Firefighter Calendar.
Police are still investigating the afternoon collision between Justin’s motorcycle and a car, a department spokeswoman said yesterday.
Justin, who lived in Roxbury, loved working out and would give clothes to the homeless.
“There were so many things about you that made me proud to be your brother,” Joshua said.
Justin’s mother, Miriam, told the packed church, “Thank you for loving him because he had a lot of great love for all of you.”