Stories From Main Street: Thousands Raised For Fordham Prep Scholarship Honoring Fallen Firefighter
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised to set up a scholarship to honor a fallen firefighter.
WCBS 880's Sean Adams On The Story
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In keeping with his Catholic upbringing and Jesuit education, Yonkers firefighter Patrick Joyce was truly a man for others.
"The nurse at the hospital where Pat died, she tells a great story, a poignant story, she goes 'You know, no one knows this. Three years ago, my house was burned, I lived in an apartment, it was burned' and she goes, 'Your brother came the next day with two other guys, helped her move out, and helped her financially get back on her feet,'" said Patrick's twin brother Pete.
In 2009, Patrick was killed in an arson fire. He was 39. Pete is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support.
"That's what really means a lot to our family. His name will always be attached to Fordham," Pete told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams.
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Patrick Joyce attended Fordham Prep, class of '88.
John Neary and Donn McNamee, class of '87, put their Wall Street wizardry to work, and they have raised more than $650,000 for a scholarship endowment.
"It's um, very touching to me, my family, Pat's wife, Isabella, and Charlotte, his two girls, that, you know, Pat meant so much to so many people that they're willing to show in any capacity they can and this endowment and this scholarship is gonna be something they're gonna be proud of just like they were proud of their father," said Patrick's older brother Marty, a member of the FDNY and graduate of Fordham Prep class of '84.
"Most of us were Bronx blue-collar kids, and if we can help relieve the middle class parents for some of the strain of the tuition, let's do it," said Noel Firth, class of '87, who wrote the first check.
"It's all about the caring component of who he was, and, and that will, will reverberate through you know, the next generation and the generation after that," said Patrick's cousin John Joyce, class of '88.
If you want to donate to the Patrick Joyce Memorial Fund, click here.
