O’Rourke, Kevin

Kevin O’Rourke, Res.2 Kevin O’Rourke, 44, of Hewlett, was a firefighter serving with Rescue Co. 2 in Brooklyn when he responded on 9/11. “My dad pretty much was the kid who rode his bike chasing the fire truck,” said his daughter, Corinne Strome of Valhalla. Kevin O’Rourke had been rescued by a firefighter as a child, she said, and it inspired him to become a firefighter himself. “It was his calling … He did it not for the recognition, but really out of the love of it. Those less fortunate did deserve our help, and he was always mindful of that. He always wanted to pitch in.” Both Strome and her sister, Jamie, were close with their father. Jamie and her father shared a love of the Grateful Dead and went to concerts together. Strome’s son, Kevin Louis, is named for her father; she also has an infant daughter, Natasha. Sometimes she takes her children to the local 9/11 memorial. “We go in there and blow kisses to Pop Pop,” she said. “As we pass the park, he Kevin] always says, ‘Hi, Pop Pop.’ ” O’Rourke’s body was found, and he was buried at Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale, for which the family is grateful. “We’ll occasionally picnic, and catch him up on what’s going on,” she said. Her family has remained close with members of the Fire Department, Strome said. “We saw the worst of humanity, but my family and I have seen so much good from people as a result, as well,” she said, ranging from stuffed animals sent by schoolchildren around the country to donations from companies that enabled the sisters to go through school. Strome, her sister, and mother try to honor O’Rourke’s memory by doing things he would have enjoyed: For example, her parents used to talk of buying an RV someday, and recently her mother did buy a bus that she has taken on some family trips. “We try to memorialize him – he’s somebody who definitely had a love of life, and an understanding that if you lived a good life then that was your legacy,” she said. “He wouldn’t want us to be consumed by grief.” – Melanie Lefkowitz