LEE S. FEHLING: Born to
Laugh
It
did not take Lee S. Fehling's mother long to know that
she had a character on her hands. "You know when the
doctor slaps you on the back and the baby cries?" said
his mother, Joan Bischoff. "Lee came out laughing."
Mr. Fehling, 28, relished a good telephone prank,
calling his mother, an insurance investigator, and
claiming to be an investigation subject, or impersonating
a Nassau County official to inform a friend that her
garage violated zoning restrictions.
"He wasn't ever a fan of dull moments," said his
younger brother, Thomas.
This was particularly problematic for those who played
bagpipes with Mr. Fehling in the American Legion band in
Wantagh, on Long Island, where he lived. (Just try
playing the pipes while cracking up.)
Mr. Fehling, a firefighter with Engine Company 235 in
Brooklyn, could always make his wife, Danielle, smile,
but he could never fool her. "I could tell a mile away if
he was up to something," she said.
He adored his daughter Kaitlin, 4. But his
stepsister-in-law Jennifer Bischoff thinks she knows the
real reason he was pleased that the second little Fehling
would also be a girl. (Megan was born Oct. 18.)
"He was afraid a little boy would be just like him,"
she said, chuckling. "And he wouldn't be able to handle
it."
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