Firefighter and Ground Zero responder dies

To William Quick, 55, of East Atlantic Beach, the two months he spent sifting through the scraps of the World Trade Center were an extension of the tour of service to the public that he first embraced as a child dreaming of becoming a firefighter.

Tuesday, he died of lung disease he had contracted during the stint on the pile at Ground Zero, his family said, ending a decades-long career in firefighting.

He so loved the job, said his wife, Lisa, that he probably would never have retired.

"If it wasn't for the fact that his lungs weren't cooperating, they'd have to push him out," she said, adding that he left the heap at Ground Zero only after he injured his knee. He had been on vacation when he rushed to the scene of the attacks.

He retired in 2003 after a nagging cough got worse and worse until he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002, ending his last position as a firefighter with Ladder 134 in Far Rockaway.

A native of the East New York section of Brooklyn, and a graduate of Jamaica High School, Quick lived in East Atlantic Beach for 25 years, Lisa Quick said.

He had always wanted to become a firefighter and distinguished himself in the job by receiving the Walter Scott medal for his lifesaving work - twice - in 1995 and in 1999, his wife said.

His death came within weeks of the passage of the Zadroga bill, the multibillion-dollar federal legislation designed to help sick 9/11 first responders.

Besides his wife, he is survived by the couple's 17-year-old twins, Ryan Mary and William Henry; two sisters, Kathleen and Patricia Ryan of St. Augustine, Fla., and two cousins, Linda and Robert Connor of Wantagh.

Viewing will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Macken Mortuary in Island Park.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Ignatius Martyr Church in Long Beach on Saturday at 9 a.m., followed by burial in St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.