Dozens of Reeves Park residents, friends and members of the larger community gathered for a candlelight procession and ceremonies at the 9/11 Memorial Park yesterday evening on Sound Avenue, where they remembered the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks with prayers, music and words of comfort and hope.
In a tradition begun in 2010, even before the park itself was established, the tight-knit community pays special tribute to local residents killed in the attack on the World Trade Center: NYFD Lt. Thomas Kelly and firefighter Jonathan Ielpi. Both men had entered the burning towers to rescue people trapped when terrorists crashed hijacked jetliners into them on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Sound Park Heights Civic Association organizes the ceremony each year, with the participation of Riverhead Fire Department, local clergy and elected officials.
In opening remarks civic president Tom O’Haire spoke of the resilience of the American people, whose “spirit cannot be broken.”
Jean Marie Kelly Farrell, sister of Thomas Kelly, offered a prayer for military service members, firefighters, police officers and “those who continue to suffer physically, mentally and emotionally due to these and other horrific attacks.”
Farrell invoked the words of the recently canonized St. Teresa of Calcutta “who spent her life like firefighters and police officers serving other people,” she said.
“Her message was simple: peace,” Farrell said. “Her prayer was simple: Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth, from despair to hope, from fear to trust, from hate to love, from war to peace, let peace fill our hearts, our world and our universe. Peace, peace, peace.”
Riverhead Fire Department Chaplain Thomas Tobin offered prayers for the fallen firefighters who “answered their last alarm” that day. “The faithful performance of their duty has brought credit to the fire service,” he said. “Grant the bereaved the spriit of faith and courage that they may have the strength to greet the days to come.”
Father Piotr Narkiewicz of St. Isidore’s Church read excerpts from a speech given last year by Pope Francis at Ground Zero in Manhattan:
“Here, amid pain and grief, we also have a palpable sense of the heroic goodness which people are capable of, those hidden reserves of strength from which we can draw. In the depths of pain and suffering, you also witnessed the heights of generosity and service. Hands reached out, lives were given.
“In a metropolis which might seem impersonal, faceless, lonely, you demonstrated the powerful solidarity born of mutual support, love and self-sacrifice. No one thought about race, nationality, neighborhoods, religion or politics. It was all about solidarity, meeting immediate needs, brotherhood. It was about being brothers and sisters. New York City firemen walked into the crumbling towers, with no concern for their own wellbeing. Many succumbed; their sacrifice enabled great numbers to be saved.”
Caitlin Beirne, 14, of Smithtown and Reeves Park sang “The Star Spangled Banner,” “God Bless America” and “Amazing Grace.”
Brian Noone, 13, of Reeves Park, played taps on the trumpet.
The procession and recession were accompanied by bagpiper Patrick O’Neill of Riverhead, who has played at each of the Reeves Park seven ceremonies since 2010.
The community effort to establish a memorial site at the corner of Sound Avenue and Park Road, which was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Kelly, led to the creation of a memorial park on a four-acre parcel of land that had been slated for a controversial commercial development. The landscaped park features benches, a flagpole, and a granite memorial to which is affixed a piece of steel from the World Trade Center.
Kelly’s family — Jean Marie, Jim, a retired NYC cop, Bob, a retired NYC firefighter and their spouses, children and extended family — ends Sept. 11 each year at the Reeves Park service. The Kellys spent their summers in Reeves Park all their lives. Their parents, Emmet and Sue Kelly, who passed away in 2013, became year-round residents after Emmet’s retirement from the NYFD; Thomas bought a house in the community and became a year-round resident after that.
“This is home,” Bob Kelly said following last night’s ceremony.
The family’s day began at their brother’s firehouse in Brooklyn, which was decimated in the attacks. After tolling of the bell for each of the fallen firefighters, family members, carrying one flag for each lost firefighter in Kelly’s battalion, march across the Brooklyn Bridge and to the World Trade Center, where there is a silent prayer. Then they march back to the firehouse. Following a closing service, they attended a High Mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Brooklyn.
“It doesn’t get any easier with the passing of each year,” Bob Kelly said of his family’s pain. “You’d think it would, but it doesn’t.
Editor’s note: This story has been amended to correct an error in the name of Sound Park Heights Civic Association as well as a minor typographical error.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti
Editor’s note: This article has been amended to reflect a correction in the spelling of the Rev. Piotr Narkiewicz’s name.
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