Perry, Glenn

Lt. Perry Glenn, Bat.12 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — If you happened to take the Staten Island Railway up from the South Shore in the late 1980s, you might have seen a man running up and down the stairs at the Eltingville station with a heavy oxygen canister on his back. Glenn C. Perry wasn’t crazy. But the former Island resident was determined to score high on the Fire Department’s physical exam. In 1990, his hard work paid off when he was accepted into the Fire Department, following in the footsteps of his father, a retired fire captain, and an older brother. Mr. Perry, 41, of Blooming Grove, N.Y., is among the missing victims of the World Trade Center attack. “He worked out like crazy,” said Patrick Perry, his brother. “His dream was to be a fireman.” Glenn Perry followed his family’s tradition of civil service. His brother, Patrick, is a sergeant at the 60th Precinct in Coney Island, Brooklyn. His father-in-law, Bill Riley is also a retired fire captain. His older brother, Frank Jr., a former fire lieutenant, retired earlier this year. Mr. Perry began his uniformed service career as a police officer. He joined the city Police Department in 1982, stationed at the Midtown South Precinct in Manhattan and the Manhattan South Task Force. But his goal was to become a firefighter. The reasons were twofold, according to his brother, Patrick. One was to emulate his father; the other was to be with his wife and children. “He had a lot of great friends on the Police Department, but I think he wanted the better hours on the Fire Department so he could have more time with his family,” Patrick said. The time Mr. Perry spent with his wife, the former Peggy Riley; his son, Glenn Jr., 16, and his daughters, Meaghan, 14, and Caitlin, 10, was precious, his family said. “He was very generous and very family-oriented,” said Patrick. “He would do anything for anybody and never wanted anything in return. He was selfless.” “He was a wonderful dad,” Mrs. Perry said. “He could talk to anybody about anything.” Mr. Perry could also do just about anything. He worked his way through the Fire Department ranks, serving stints at Engine Co. 282/Ladder Co. 148 in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and at Engine Co. 84 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. In 1999, he was promoted to lieutenant. Mr. Perry taught at the Fire Academy for about nine months, then rotated through various firehouses in the city. A few months ago, he was assigned to Ladder Co. 25 on Amsterdam Avenue and West 77th Street in Manhattan. On the morning of the terrorist attack, Mr. Perry spoke briefly with his wife and parents around 9 a.m., minutes after the first hijacked jetliner slammed into the World Trade Center’s north tower. Mrs. Perry said her husband’s voice was nearly drowned out by wailing sirens and clanging bells. “He couldn’t even talk, he said he had to go,” she said. His family never heard from him again. At least six other members of the firehouse are also missing, they said. Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Perry moved to Eltingville in 1970 and to Sunnyside in 1985. He settled in Blooming Grove in 1995. The Tottenville High School graduate was a member of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association (UFOA) and the Fire Department’s Emerald Society, and had played on the Pneu Tech softball team in the Staten Island Medium Pitch league. Mr. Perry also enjoyed playing basketball and golf and ran in the 1991 New York City Marathon. He liked carpentry, working around the house and cooking. “He was always trying different things,” Mrs. Perry said of her husband’s culinary skills. “He loved to experiment. He’d whip up stuff without a recipe.” The last few years, the Perrys vacationed with her family in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where they golfed and frolicked on the beach. “He always liked to go and have fun,” Mrs. Perry said. Mr. Perry was a parishioner of St. Mary’s R.C. Church, Washingtonville, N.Y., and a former parishioner of St. Teresa’s R.C. Church, Castleton Corners. In addition to his wife, Peggy; his children, Glenn Jr., Meaghan and Caitlin; his brothers, Frank and Patrick, and his father, Frank, surviving are his mother, Catherine, and his two sisters, Barbara Dunleavy and Arleen Perry.