By KEITH GRANT and Liz McBreen
In a nearly three-hour ceremony, Kiefer was remembered for his love of his faith, his life-long passion for firefighting, and especially his unparalleled love for his family, including his fiancee Jamie. A well-known lifeguard in Long Beach his home away from home the first-year New York City firefighter was honored by thousands at St. Catherine of Sienna Church in Franklin Square. Friends filled the church, the surrounding streets, and a neighboring auditorium, where mourners sat within walls that were adorned with childrens artwork celebrating America, firefighters and the Twin Towers. On this morning, they came to celebrate Mikes life.
In 25 short years, you accomplished more than most do in a lifetime, Kiefers cousin Tracy Benenati said. She remembered the little lifeguard who tried to save us all in the three-foot pool, and who as a child loved to show off his favorite firetruck underwear to friends.
Kiefers life was devoted to saving others. As former N.Y.C. mayor Rudy Giuliani noted, the constant thread in Michaels life was wanting to save people. He became a lifeguard at an early age, but was a firefighter even earlier. Speaker after speaker noted that he was a 25-year-old man with 25 years of firefighting experience. Whether it was racing on his bicycle to beat the local volunteers to a neighborhood fire sometimes not quite within the neighborhood or training his sister Lauren in their own little backyard firehouse, it was all Kiefer wanted to do.
Lauren recalled how at a young age, her brother would stage mock fires in their shed with smoke bombs, and test his little sisters ability to rise to the challenge. Lauren would be promoted up the ranks of Kiefers Firehouse according to the skill she showed in rescuing her doll from the smoky inferno.
After high school, Kiefer attended John Jay College in Manhattan because of its Fire Department cadet program, and went on to become an Emergency Medical Service worker to help speed his path towards firefighting with the FDNY, a dream he realized in December 2000.
Father Thomas Groenewold, who had known Kiefer since his childhood, said Michael was confident, sensitive and idealistic, adding, He lived his calling, and died saving others.
The last time Kiefer was seen on the morning of the attacks, he was rushing into the burning South Tower with his brethren from Ladder 132, and he disappeared up the steps. Giuliani spoke about the heroism of Kiefer and every other rescue worker, noting, the terrorist attacks were intended to break our spirit, but the way Michael and other firefighters acted gave America courage. They not only saved lives, they saved the spirit of America. Michael was a patriot, and he stood his ground.
The spirit of America that [the terrorists] wanted to kill, he helped protect.
Fellow firefighter Horatio Maldanado recalled how something out of the ordinary had happened the day Kiefer was assigned to Ladder 132. Maldanado received two congratulatory calls from firefighters in other houses who knew Kiefer. The young probie had already made a name for himself in the department, and the others wanted Maldanado to know the great asset he had in Kiefer.
Referred to as Kiefer the Keeper, the young firefighter was one that houses he worked in while completing his probationary period did not want to see go at the end of his tour.
Among the many loving family members and friends in Long Beach, Franklin Square, and the FDNY, Kiefer is survived by his mother Pat and father Bud, his sisters Lauren and Kerri, and his fiancee Jamie Huggler. His sisters described Michael as their best friend. Huggler said that for the three years that she and Kiefer knew each other, he filled her life with love, energy and confidence, and made her the strong person that she is today.
Bud Kiefer explained the unique friendship he had with his son. Bud was to stand as Kiefers best man at his wedding, planned for this summer. He used to tell me that he wanted to be like me. You had it wrong, kid. Youre my hero.
Heaven's beaches are a little safer, and the smiles around the firehouse a little brighter. They got themselves a keeper.
