Firefighter Eric Allen’s widow showed heroism worthy of her husband after his body was pulled from the WTC rubble.
After two firefighters from Squad 18 came knocking on her door Saturday, Angelica Allen quietly listened as they struggled to find the words to tell her about her 41-year-old husband’s terrible death.
Then Angelica had something to say to them:
“I’ve never said how sorry I feel that the two of you have to do this.”
Yesterday, the Rev. James Devlin spoke to hundreds of mourners at Allen’s funeral at Our Lady of Angels Church in Brooklyn.
“The city is a city of heroes and heroines,” he said. “Each day, countless acts of love are shown by so many of us.”
The funeral was one of eight for city firefighters yesterday.
Like the other services, Allen’s was filled with poignant moments, including when his grieving widow brought up the sacramental wine to the altar, cradling their 3-year-old daughter, Kathleen, in her arms.
Among the others laid to rest were:
* FDNY Capt. Martin Eagan Jr., the eldest of three firefighter brothers who served as an altar boy at the church where his funeral Mass would be held on Staten Island.
“As other people were going down, the firemen were going up. People would try to stop them, saying, ‘There’s nothing up there but fire.’ But they kept going up,” the Rev. Robert Navins of St. Margaret Mary Church said.
As the service closed, Eagan’s 3-year-old daughter walked up to lay a single flower on her father’s casket.
“Goodbye, Daddy, I love you,” she said.
* Tom Hannafin, 36, a former high-school and college basketball star from Staten Island who followed older brother Kevin into the department.
When firefighters recovered Tom’s body from the deadly rubble Friday, it was Kevin who carried his brother’s helmet out.
“It was the proudest moment of my life,” he said later.
* Firefighter William Henry, 49, one of 11 members of Rescue Squad 1 to perish in the attack.
His casket was taken down from a rig and carried into St. Francis of Assisi Church by uniformed comrades in Herald Square.
Henry was hailed as a pioneer among blacks in the department.
* Ex-Marine Manuel Mojica, 37, whose wife quietly wept during the service with their 4-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter by her side.
His father, a former New York City cop, has driven around the WTC wreckage scene with large photos of his dead son plastered on his car to remind people of his loss.
* FDNY Battalion Chief Richard Prunty, a 57-year-old Vietnam veteran from Long Island.
“I am proud of my dad,” daughter Lisa said. “When everywhere people were fleeing for their lives, he had the strength and courage to go against instinct . . . and do all he could to bring people to safety.”
* Battalion Commander John Williamson, 46, who was just transferred to Battalion 6 when he met his fate.
“We were just getting to know him,” firehouse Lt. Steve Brown lamented.
* Another Squad 18 firefighter hero, Lawrence Virgilio, who was eulogized in the same Queens church in which he was baptized.
The Rev. Frank Tumino of St. Sebastian Church in Woodside said Virgilio’s family believes there is one thing to be thankful for: “They have a body to bury,” he said.
Today’s FDNY Funerals
* FDNY Lt. Dennis Mojica, Rescue 1. At 10 a.m., St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Manhattan.
* FDNY Lt. Michael Warchola, Ladder 5. At 10:45 a.m., Resurrection Ascension Church, Woodhaven Boulevard and Eliot Avenue, Middle Village, Queens.