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GARY BOX: The Barber of Squad 1

 

Gary Box was a funny man, a big kid, a roughhouser who liked laughter and pranks. When he came to the Squad 1 firehouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn, last year, he convinced everyone there that his previous profession had been that of a barber for a funeral home.

The men believed him, and in his tenure, Mr. Box, 37, managed to brutalize the coiffures of every man in the house. "If you wanted a crew cut, he gave you a Mohawk," said his friend, Steve Iola. Eventually Mr. Box got good with the scissors and the men bought him a barber chair.

But his humor had a limit. When the men made cracks about their wives, all Mr. Box would say was: "What can I say, man? I love her." Her name is Kathleen; their children are Dalton and Bridget.

"As the other firemen make their way up to the Pearly Gates," said Lt. Dennis Farrell, "Gary Box will be there dumping buckets of water on their heads."

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times