Fire chief killed in 9/11 attacks finally given funeral

Family and friends waited more than a decade for the remains of Lawrence Stack to be found

The flag-draped casket is followed by Mr Stack's wife, Theresa (AP)

A funeral for a long-serving firefighter who lost his life in the 9/11 attacks has taken place 15 years after the Twin Towers came down.

Chief Lawrence Stack had worked for the FDNY for almost 33 years when he died on 11 September, 2001.

The family came to learn of how Mr Stack had died, but they chose to put off the funeral for 15 years, always hoping they would find his remains.

“Weeks turned into months,” Michael Stack, one of Chief Stack’s two sons, who are both firefighters, told The New York Times. “Months turned into years. Two years turned into five, turned into 10. Now it’s 15.”

A Catholic funeral required the remains to be present.

The family then discovered they could use a blood sample that he had given 18 months before his death in order to donate blood for a small boy in the local area who had cancer.

Mr Stack’s marrow was not a match for a transplant, so his blood sample was put into cold storage.

The vial of blood was buried in the ceremony, held on Friday 17 June on Long Island, attended by a large number of firefighters and family, on what would have been his and his 71-year-old wife Theresa’s 49th wedding anniversary.

His son Michael, New York city mayor Bill de Blasio and fire commissioner Daniel Nigro all gave speeches.

Chief Stack had hurried to downtown Manhattan after hearing news of the plane hitting the first tower. He almost got hit by falling wreckage in the tower lobby, but managed to pull off his jacket and wriggle free. The jacket was the only item the family found in 15 years.

Mr Stack died in the Marriott World Trade Center, after he had warned colleagues they should leave, but stopped to help an injured businessman from Iowa.

“The last thing they remember seeing is my dad on one knee with this man,” his son Lieutenant Stack said, who went back to ground zero day after day to find his father.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner has identified 65 per cent of remains recovered from the World Trade Center.

According to the New York Blood Center, 143 firefighters who died in the attacks had signed up to be marrow donors. The center notified the families of the victims.