Robert Foti, Lad.7 LESSONS OF HELPFULNESS To know Robert Foti, 43, meet his children: Alycia, 13, Robert Jr., 12, and James, 5. This winter, Robert Jr. walked down a snowy mountain — twice — to retrieve a stranger’s snowboard. When Alycia was 11, she spent the holidays with her stepmother’s family and cheerfully helped out in the kitchen. James, little James, is obsessed with the twin towers that claimed his father’s life. For a while Engine 16 and Ladder 7 displayed a snapshot of James and his father that was hard to forget. The “Santa Claus picture,” Firefighter Foti’s wife, Mary Grace, calls it. She saw them in the bathtub with soapsuds beards like Santas. She ran to get the camera. “You can’t take our picture,” Firefighter Foti protested, laughing. He was chewing a cigar and had his arm around James. “But it’s so cute,” Mrs. Foti said, snapping the picture. Now James says, “My daddy died in the twin towers,” to everyone he meets. “He was always stopping to help someone or doing the dishes,” Mrs. Foti said. “He would go on all the field trips with the mothers. It was his nature to help others, which explains why he became a fireman.” Bob was a hero long before September 11. About four years ago when I was picking up my daughter from the Epiphany School on East 22nd Street, I saw a truck that was on fire, rolling down Second Avenue. It was veering toward 22nd Street. Bob was at the school picking up his kids. He saw the truck; he ran to it, opened the door, looking for the driver, who had gotten out of the truck blocks away, when it first caught on fire. He turned the ignition off,the truck stopped and a tragedy was averted. There were many kids due to come out of school at that time. The truck could have crashed into parked cars on the block. He ran into that truck that was on fire and smoking profusely. He did not give a thought to his own safety. I was in awe of his response. I called his house that night to thank him for being a hero. I am so glad that I thanked him for that day. Thank you, Bob, for all the days that you did your job heroically. Rest in peace. Maryellen Teaman, friend Robert was born August 19‚ 1959. He grew up in New York City. He attended LaSalle Academy and Pace University. Prior to the fire department‚ Robert worked for United Parcel Service. He loved to hunt‚ fish and Scuba dive. Robert has two brothers‚ a mother and a father. He also has three children–Alycia 13‚ Robert 12‚ and James 5. He was appointed 12/5/88. Robert loved life and will be sorely missed. Grace Foti
