Riverhead Fire Department pays its respects to 59-year member, ex-Capt. Conrad Dabrowski Sr.

The Riverhead Fire Department paid tribute today to 59-year member and ex-Captain Conrad M. Dabrowski Sr., who died on April 18 at age 87.

Dabrowski joined the fire department in October 1965 and was a member and ex-captain of the Red Bird Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1, which named him firefighter of the year in 2014. 

Ladder trucks from six different area departments honored Dabrowski with giant flags suspended from their extended ladders outside St. Isidore’s Church, Riverhead Fire Department headquarters and his residence on Woodcrest Avenue.  RFD’s own ladder trucks were among the apparatus in the funeral procession, which carried Dabrowski’s coffin, draped in a Riverhead Fire Department flag, to the church and then, after the funeral service, to his residence on Woodcrest Avenue, to RFD’s headquarters on Roanoke Avenue, and finally, to the crematory in Center Moriches.

Riverhead firefighters in Class A dress uniform marched in the procession from McLaughlin Heppner Funeral Home to St. Isidore’s Church, where they lined up on the front steps to salute their late brother as firefighter-pallbearers carried him into the church.   

Father Piotr Narkiewicz of St. Agnes parish in Greenport, who served in the Riverhead Fire Department when he was a priest at St. Isidore’s, returned to the Polish Town church to say the funeral mass for his friend and fellow firefighter. He shared a reading from the Gospel of Luke, in which the risen Christ appeared to two of his disciples who were walking from Jerusalem to a nearby town. They were sad about the events of the past week and puzzled by the empty tomb.They didn’t recognize Jesus.

In his homily, Narkiewicz said the passage is one of his favorite gospels. “Jesus is the only one who really knows what happened,” he said. His disciples “only knew what was visible, and he told them the whole story.”

“If you recognize Jesus as the savior,” Narkiewicz said, “keep the faith. Trust him.” God has a plan, he said. Like the disciples in the reading, we can only see what’s visible, he said.

“It’s an important message, especially at times when we don’t know what to do, as in times of suffering,” the priest said. “God does things that are completely unexpected to us.” He related the message of the gospel reading to Dabrowski’s life. 

“We expected Conrad to die six years ago,” the priest said. He recalled how Conrad, who was battling cancer, summoned him to his hospital bedside, where they had a long talk and the priest heard his confession and administered Last Rites.

“But he didn’t die,” Narkowicz said. 

“Then when he did die on Friday, it was unexpected. Maybe God needs the good people with him,” the priest mused. “Maybe he has a signal 13,” Narkiewicz said, referring to the fire service radio code for a structure fire. 

“The answer? Signal 2 [proceeding to alarm]. Then signal 21 [at the scene]. Then you do what you have to do,” he said. 

“One day, we will receive the message Conrad received: Signal 5 and 25,” Narkiewicz said, calling out the signals for “return to base” and “dismissed.”

“God calls us home. And Jesus is coming to meet us,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t recognize him. In a moment of desperation and suffering, do not lose faith. Do not lose love.”

After the service, the procession made its way from the church to Riverhead’s headquarters, where black and purple bunting is displayed on the front of the building and a memorial plaque bears Dabrowski’s name. His helmet, firefighting gear and boots stood outside the building, next to the gleaming, restored 1903 Metropolitan Steamer of the Washington Engine Co. #2. Dabrowski, a fire service history buff, was a charter member of the Eastern Long Island Antique Fire Apparatus Association. 

Chief of Department Piotr Kurzyna lined up outside headquarters with members of the Jamesport Fire Department, who were standing by at Riverhead’s headquarters for the duration of today’s ceremonies, to salute Dabrowski as the engine carrying his casket briefly stopped. A Jamesport firefighter rang the steamer’s bell three times before the procession continued on. A private service followed at Mount Pleasant Crematory in Center Moriches.

Dabrowski is survived by his wife Mary and their three children, Conrad Jr., Edward and Lisa.

A complete obituary will be published in the coming days.

Correction: This article has been amended to correct the location of the flags on Woodcrest Avenue.