Joseph Torregrossa, longtime Franklin Square fire commissioner, dies at 61

Joseph Torregrossa, a longtime Franklin Square firefighter involved in the rescue and recovery efforts after the 9/11 attacks, died March 21 of COVID-19, his family said.

Torregrossa, who died at 61, joined the Franklin Square and Munson Fire Department in 1986 and was a commissioner at the fire district for the past 18 years, his family and fellow firemen said.

“He's a great guy who unfortunately became debilitated by his exposure down there [Ground Zero] and unfortunately ultimately succumbed to leaving a family and a lot of broken hearts,” said Les Saltzman, chairman of the district's board of commissioners where Torregrossa served as vice chairman.

Torregrossa was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2014 and later prostate cancer, said his wife, Christine Torregrossa. The two cancers are covered conditions under the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program. Late last year, he was also diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.

A few months after his initial diagnosis, he retired in 2015 from the Sanitary District No. 6 in the Town of Hempstead, where he worked for about two decades, his wife said.

Tommy Torregrossa of Franklin Square, the oldest of his two sons, said his father’s life revolved around his family. “He’s the type of guy who did everything and anything to make us happy,” said the younger son, Joey Torregrossa of Franklin Square.

Joseph Torregrossa was born on Sept. 6, 1960, to Albert, a firefighter at the same Franklin Square department, and Elena Torregrossa. He was born at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola, the same hospital where he died, Christine Torregrossa said.

Joseph and Christine Torregrossa met during a fundraiser in 1990 at the fire department and married that September at St. Catherine of Sienna Roman Catholic Church in Franklin Square. They raised two sons and a daughter in the same Franklin Square house in which Torregrossa grew up.

When the children were young, the couple, “die-hard” New York Mets fans, bought season tickets to the games, tailgated and barbecued in the parking lot, the sons and daughter recalled. Later, when the children played sports, their father was in the bleachers cheering.

Torregrossa owned Harley-Davidson motorcycles but sold each one — the first time to buy a bigger car after his first son was born and the second time to pay for his daughter’s Sweet 16 birthday party, his family said.

Over the years, he worked as a bus driver for Great Neck schools, a security guard at a Rockville Centre church and an umpire for youth baseball games, in addition to his full-time job as a sanitation worker, to “make sure that there was enough for everybody,” his wife said.

Torregrossa, who liked cooking, woodwork and German shepherds, was a man of kindness, his family and friends said. Daughter Gina Torregrossa of Franklin Square said her father would leave bottled water in a cooler filled with ice for the mailman in the summer and hand out lollipops to neighborhood children.

“Everywhere you went, he either knew someone or someone knew him,” said Teddy Braun of Franklin Square, who joined the fire department two years before Torregrossa. “He makes you a better person by just watching.”

In addition to his wife, sons and daughter, Torregrossa is survived by three brothers, Salvatore Torregrossa of Milford, Delaware; John Torregrossa of Franklin Square; and Michael Torregrossa of Franklin Square. A funeral Mass was celebrated March 28 at St. Catherine of Sienna Roman Catholic Church.

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.