Gerard P. Dewan: Finding a
Home
Gerard
P. Dewan was not a New Yorker, and he would have told you
that. He was a Bostonian, the son of a firefighter, who
in turn was the son of a firefighter. But there were no
jobs going in the Boston Fire Department, and so he took
the southbound bus and began his career in New York five
years ago.
Gerry Dewan, 35, just wanted to be a firefighter, said
his friend and landlord, Sean Cummins, also a
firefighter. He was one of the first rescuers to enter
the twin towers. Along with 11 others from Ladder Company
3/Battalion 6 in Lower Manhattan, he never made it
out.
He is the first member of his family to die in the
line of duty, Mr. Cummins said. He was not married, but
had always planned to have children and move home to
Boston. In the meantime, he found a family in the Cummins
household in Rockaway Park, Queens, where he rented a
basement apartment. Two nights before the calamity, he
was helping write the names of the Cummins children on
their crayons for the first day of school. "He finally
found a home with us," Mr. Cummins said.
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