Otten, Michael

Michael Otten, Lad.35 Michael J. Otten, 42, of East Islip, was a New York City firefighter with Ladder Co. 35 on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. The firehouse, which also houses Engine 40, lost 11 firefighters. Otten’s remains were not recovered. Come January, Michael J. Otten’s two sons hope to do what the men in his family have done for generations: join the FDNY. Christopher, 21, and Jonathan, 18, plan to take the scheduled firefighter exam and hope to follow their father, grandfather, Richard Otten, and great-grandfather, Henry Otten. “I am OK with that only because I saw how happy it made my husband. It was something he truly, truly loved. He looked forward to going to work,” said their mother, Marion Otten, 49, of East Islip. “I just want my kids to wake up happy every day and look forward to going to work. If they think this is going to do it, I am not going to stop them.” She worries for her sons’ safety, but the young men, volunteer firefighters with the East Islip Fire Department, will receive additional training. They will prepare, she said, as best as they can. “So, I can’t spend my life worrying if today is the day something’s going to happen,” she said. The couple’s youngest son, Jason, 14, is a freshman at East Islip High School. The second-oldest of five children, Otten was a kind man, always willing to lend a helping hand – installing a window or a kitchen or driving an elderly neighbor from East Islip to Manhattan so she could spend time with her daughter who had given birth. For the past decade, Marion Otten has tried to find her footing in a new life without her husband. It has been more difficult because he was a hands-on father. He played football with the boys. He coached their soccer teams. He took them on a boys-only camping trip upstate. “I had to become the mom and the dad,” she said. “The hardest part is raising the kids by myself. Am I guiding them the right way? Am I teaching them the right way?” – Chau Lam