DAVID P. DERUBBIO: 'Dave Was an
Experience'
If
you knew David P. DeRubbio -- "Crazy Dave" or "Crazy
Uncle Dave" to his family -- you knew about the jokes and
you knew about the milk.
The fifth of seven children, Mr. DeRubbio, a Brooklyn
firefighter, was famous in the family for his countless
ways of getting around the household rule against
profanity and for the zany nicknames he gave out.
"Dave was an experience," said Angela Tiberi, his
younger sister, who contended with being nicknamed,
"Witchie Poo."
He doted on his daughter Jessica, 12. He nicknamed her
"Pestica."
To avoid using one profanity at home, Mr.DeRubbio
would say, "What the H-E- double hockey sticks is going
on?" Callers who encountered him at the other end of the
line would typically find themselves being serenaded.
Mr. DeRubbio, 38, was such a milk hound that their
mother joked about buying a family cow just to meet the
demand, his sister said.
To the delight of his friends and family, none of this
stopped after Mr. DeRubbio, who joined the Fire
Department in 1998 and was assigned to Engine Company
226, became an adult.
"I know he's up there," Ms. Tiberi said. "And he's got
everyone rolling."
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