Sullivan, Christopher

Lt. Christopher Sullivan, Lad.111 Christopher P. Sullivan A Family Man With Unshakable Faith October 3, 2001 Christopher Sullivan, a lieutenant with the New York City Fire Department, was last seen Sept. 11 racing up the stairs inside One World Trade Center with members of Engine Co. 214 to help evacuate those still inside. He is believed to have perished when the tower collapsed. “When all is said and done, if my brother had to do that again, he would,” said Sullivan’s older brother, Robert, of South Farmingdale. “That’s the kind of guy he was.” Christopher Sullivan was born July 28, 1962, at Lenox Hill Hospital, Manhattan. After graduating from Farmingdale High School, he worked as a corrections officer for the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department and as a New York City police officer before joining the Fire Department in August 1986. He was assigned first to Engine Co. 82, Ladder 31 in the Bronx, his brother said, before being promoted to lieutenant and transferred to Engine Co. 214, Ladder 111 in Brooklyn. A year after joining the Fire Department, Sullivan married his high school sweetheart, Dolores Neufeld, a kindergarten teacher with the Huntington public schools. They were raising two sons, Sean, 6, and Brian, 4, in North Massapequa. A big man at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, Sullivan wore a flat-top haircut and carried a muscular build from years of weight lifting. He also enjoyed the outdoors, including family camping trips to Maine and Vermont and fishing for snapper at Captree State Park. Robert Sullivan said his brother will be remembered as an all-around family man who cooked and cared for his sons on days he didn’t have to go to the firehouse and for his positive outlook, strong faith in God and penchant for practical jokes. “Every day, he lived life to the fullest,” Robert Sullivan said. “You couldn’t rattle the guy that easy. He was just easygoing and enjoyed things.” Robert Sullivan said his brother would have been philosophical about death and the days ahead. “I think he would say we shouldn’t worry about the guys who died, that God would take care of them,” he added. “He would say that we need to focus on the country, stick together and do what’s right.” –Pat Burson (Newsday)