By:Cindy J. Roth
In what has become a too-familiar scene on Bedford Avenue in Bellmore, friends, family, government dignitaries and thousands of firefighters gathered at St. Barnabas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church Oct. 10 to honor Gary Box.
Mr. Box, 37, was one of 350 firefighters who died during rescue attempts at the World Trade Center Sept. 11.
With an air of sadness filling the memorial service, those who knew Mr. Box best spoke of his unwavering dedication to his wife, Kathleen, and children, Dalton and Brigette.
Fellow firefighter Steve Viola, of Brooklyn Rescue Squad One, said Mr. Box was full of life and always had a smile on his face. Viola recounted how Mr. Box convinced other firefighters when he first joined Squad One earlier this year that he used to be a barber, and he gave all the men in the unit buzz cuts. Though he had no prior experience as a barber, Mr. Box soon became good at the job, and Squad One firefighters bought him his own barber's chair and buzz cutter.
Mr. Box, of North Bellmore, is remembered for his off-the-wall antics. But when it came to fighting fires, friends said, Mr. Box was strictly business. While on the way to the Twin Towers, the department's truck got stuck in traffic, and Mr. Box and his colleagues quickly dismounted the engine and continued on foot to the World Trade Center. Mr. Box is also credited with rescue efforts in the Father's Day fire in Queens earlier this year.
"Gary Box was a man of love," said Rev. Brian Ingram, who led the memorial service. "Gary went into the Towers with no hesitation. He chose to lay down his love so total strangers might be saved and live. There is no greater love than that."
Mr. Box is one of nine firefighters from Squad One missing since the World Trade Center attacks.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen Box; children, Dalton and Brigette Box; parents, Judson Box and Hillary Charke, and sisters, Christine Box and Tina Terrel.
