By KEITH GRANT
Hetterich would have been starting his National Guard service next week, but instead he was struck and killed early Sunday morning by a man police say was driving drunk. Hetterich, who was hit while trying to cross Sunrise Highway in Freeport, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the 4 a.m. crash.
Sedrick Bloome, 31, of Brooklyn was charged by police with driving while intoxicated.
A 1973 graduate of Long Beach High School, Hetterich grew up in Point Lookout where he gained a love for the water. It was a love that would have been hard to avoid, anyway, being the son and grandson of sailors. Hetterich's father had served in the Merchant Marines and his granddad was also in the Navy.
Most recently, Hetterich worked at BJ's Wholesaler in Freeport, where he now lived nearby his mother, Dorothy. But his heart clearly was still in military service. He enlisted into the National Guard on March 28 and on May 3 would have officially joined his unit at the State Armory in Freeport. It were the events of Sept. 11, his mother said, that pushed him back into service to his country even after so many years removed from it. He'll receive full military honors at his funeral on Thursday morning, April 25, at Our Lady of The Miraculous Medal R.C. Church in Point Lookout.
He's going to be greatly missed, his mother Dorothy Hetterich said. He used to come over for dinner every night. To know he's not going to be coming through the door anymore is unbelievable.
A former Point Lookout Little Leaguer and a football and track athlete at Long Beach High School, Hetterich continued to take good care of himself well after his long Naval career that took him to all corners of the globe. Between 1973 and 1991, Hetterich sailed aboard USS Albany, the USS John F. Kennedy and the USS Lexington, working in the ships' engine rooms. He retired in 1991 as a petty officer.
He was always around boats, his mother said. As a kid, he boated with his grandfather and uncle Charlie, who showed him the ropes, literally, of seamanship.
Of course, then they treated him like a swabby and made him clean the deck when they got back, his mom said.
Everybody liked him, she added. He had that type of personality. He was very giving and caring, and never asked for anything in return.
In addition to his mother, Hetterich is survived by a brother Edward of Tamp; sisters Lynn Blunier of Springfield, Ohio, and Lauren Hetterich of Bellmore.
Viewing was scheduled for Wednesday, April 24 at the Charlie O'Shea Funeral Home in Wantagh, with a mass on Thursday, at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Burial followed at Holy Rood Cemetery.
