By Wil Cruz
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
Michael Greene died serving others.
And the funeral yesterday for the West Babylon volunteer firefighter killed in the line of duty had all the honors bestowed upon a fallen uniformed hero:
Hundreds of firefighters in their dress blues and white gloves.
Bagpipes wailing “Amazing Grace.”
Helicopters hovering over a church.
The homily, however, was all about Michael Greene’s life.
“He lived serving others,” the Rev. Joseph Pilsner told mourners gathered inside St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on North Carll Avenue in Babylon.
“When he died that’s just what he was doing.”
The loss of the West Babylon firefighter was magnified when his family exited a limousine and slowly walked toward the church.
His wife, Elizabeth, look-a-like son, Colin, 14, and daughters Katie, 12, Kristen, 10, and Meghan, 4, followed nine firefighters carrying Greene’s American-flag-draped coffin inside the church.
A powerful silence fell over the hundreds of mourners, interrupted by only birds chirping, the soft sound of footsteps and sniffles.
Greene, 43, a West Babylon volunteer firefighter who worked as a truck driver for Nabisco, was killed Friday when an electrified sign atop a Lindenhurst restaurant fatally shocked him.
Vincent Senzamici, West Babylon’s chief, said it was the first on-duty fatality in the department’s 61-year history.
“Mike was the consummate volunteer firefighter,” said Senzamici after the service.
“He struck that delicate balance between his family life and his work here.”
Greene’s death was the first time a Long Island firefighter had died in the line of duty since last June, when Peter Lund, 54, a Woodmere volunteer, died of a heart attack after fighting a blaze in a burning attic.
Yesterday during the funeral, Pilsner, who is Elizabeth Greene’s cousin-in-law, spoke directly to Greene.
“Michael, we are not saying good-bye forever. ... We look forward to a reunion,” he said.
“Michael, we regret your death. But we honor your life, and we look forward to seeing you one day.”
Then came Elizabeth Greene’s turn to eulogize her husband.
She approached a podium at the front of the church, accompanied by their four children.
She read from a prepared speech - “Mike Speech” that was titled on a draft earlier this week.
She laughed at some points, became choked up at others - like when she recalled a recent vacation when Greene and his son surfed together.
“Watching my husband and son paddle out in North Carolina together truly tugged at my heart,” she read.
“It was Mike’s dream realized.”
When she closed with, “Mike Greene was just simply ... a great guy,” everyone in the church broke out in applause.
After the service, Greene’s coffin was carried into a West Babylon fire truck.
He was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Livingston Avenue, a few yards away from the family home.
The circumstances surrounding Greene’s death remain in question.
Greene was in Lindenhurst because its fire department requested a ladder from the West Babylon department to fight a fire last Tuesday, Senzamici said.
On Friday, Greene and other firefighters returned to the restaurant to remove a tarpaulin there.
Lindenhurst Fire Marshal Richard Lyman said Monday that the store where Greene was electrocuted provided a letter from a licensed electrical contractor saying the sign had no problems.
That statement contradicts comments made by an electrical inspector for the county, who said the sign was not properly grounded.
Suffolk County’s Homicide Squad is investigating Greene’s death. Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick yesterday said he could not comment because the investigation has not been concluded.