Gambino, Thomas

Thomas Gambino Jr., Res.3 Thomas Gambino Jr., 48, of Babylon was a member of the city fire department’s Rescue 3 in the Bronx. His helmet was found in the south tower. Thomas Gambino III last spoke to his father as the elder Gambino was leaving for the firehouse on Sept. 10. He said goodbye and was walking off, then turned and came back to his oldest son, 20 at the time. “He said to me: ‘I just want you to know that when I go off to work, all I think about is coming back to you guys. I would never do anything to make that not happen. I realize that if I die I’m just a number.'” Gambino loved to sit on the beach and watch his sons, Thomas and Brian, then 14, surf at Robert Moses State Park. A runner who also lifted weights to keep himself fit for his demanding job, he was no surfer. But that didn’t keep him from giving his sons some tips — which usually drew rolled eyes. They equally loved being with their dad, his wife, Janet, said. “I felt he was the light of the house,” she said. Even after 21 years, “it was exciting when he came home.” Gambino, a devout traditionalist Catholic, was not just emotionally and physically strong, his son said. He had a special ability to enjoy each moment. “I always thought he was kind of the enlightened one,” he said. “Even my friends would say ‘your Dad — he just knows.'” Thomas Gambino III has since become a city firefighter. When he was training, he said, “I thought about him every day; he was my motivation.” Janet Gambino said she has tried to live each day as it comes, as her husband did. On Sept. 10, 2001, the couple had lunch together at home before she returned to her job at a nearby elementary school. As she told him that she had to go to get back to work, he suddenly turned serious and told her: “I’m not holding you back.'” After his death, she interpreted that as his way of comforting her, telling her to go on with her life. “Sometimes God gives you a way,” she said. — Ridgely Ochs