Hannafin, Thomas

Thomas Hannafin, Lad.5 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Thomas Hannafin was a top-notch firefighter, and may have been an even better athlete. Earlier this year, the 36-year-old Westerleigh resident captured a gold medal in the three-on-three basketball competition at the World/Police Fire Department Games in Indianapolis. On Tuesday, Mr. Hannafin, a member of Ladder Co. 5 in Greenwich Village, died after responding to the World Trade Center suicide attack. He was last seen on the 37th floor in Tower 1. “My brother Tom lived his life to the fullest every day,” said his brother Kevin, a firefighter assigned to Ladder Co. 119 in Brooklyn. “He was a family man who was always with his children and his wife, and he was a great athlete and team guy.” Kevin Hannafin, in an emotional twist, was among the rescue workers who pulled his brother and other members of Ladder 5 from the charred wreckage. “I was very proud of my brother,” said Kevin Hannafin, “and I was happy to be with the recovery effort.” Mr. Hannafin was a lifelong Westerleigh resident and had been a firefighter for 10 years. He was a graduate of Susan Wagner High School and the College of Staten Island. He was a member of the Fire Department’s Emerald Society and the department’s basketball team which competed in the Indianapolis games. Mr. Hannafin enjoyed bicycling, playing basketball, softball and football, and traveling. He was a parishioner of Sacred Heart R.C. Church, West Brighton. Surviving, in addition to his brother, Kevin, are his wife, the former Rene Bacotti; a son, Thomas, 3; a daughter, Kayla, 5, and four brothers, Dennis, Patrick, John and Peter. The funeral will be Thursday from the Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners, with a mass at 11 a.m. in Sacred Heart Church. Burial will be in St. Peter’s Cemetery, West Brighton.