Hundreds Say Goodbye
To Vic Navarra
Posted January 5th, 2008 at 4:15 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Columns, SPOTLIGHT
Nearly 500 people filled Blessed Sacrament Church here this morning to bid their final goodbyes to Victor J. Navarra, the retired New York City Fire Department lieutenant who served as the start coordinator for the ING New York City Marathon for 25 years. Navarra died last Monday at the age of 55, having suffered for more than two years with sinus cancer.
In a life which was defined by service to others, Navarra was remembered for his roles as a family man and neighbor, a firefighter, and an event organizer. He joined the New York City Fire Department in 1977, rising to the rank of lieutenant, and serving 21 years for the department’s Ladder Company 35 in Manhattan.
“The word ‘dedicated’ didn’t even begin to describe Vic Navarra,” a fire department official said during the eulogy portion of Navarra’s funeral. “We have no better ambassador than Vic Navarra to show what this department is all about.”
A neighbor said that Navarra was “a proud native New Yorker” who was “without pretension,” a man who was always available to lend a tool or help solve a problem. Navarra, who married his high school sweetheart Joanne Bertucci, and remained true to her for 37 years, had two daughters and two grandchildren.
In the most tearful part of the tribute, his daughter April reminded all who had gathered that Navarra would not have wanted to see long faces at his funeral. “I often referred to him as the ultimate optimist,” she said. She added, “Dad does not want us to be sad today. He wanted us to laugh and smile.”
More than 100 firefighters attended the funeral, along with dozens of Navarra’s colleagues from the running industry. New York Road Runners, the organizers of the ING New York City Marathon, were represented by chairman of the board George Hirsch, president and CEO Mary Wittenberg, and former president and CEO Allan Steinfeld, amongst other current and former staff. Dave McGillivray and Ron Kramer, who worked with Navarra at the Boston Marathon, drove down from Boston, leaving at five o’clock this morning in order to attend. Adam Zocks and Peter Douglas, who worked with Navarra at several of Elite Racing’s road racing events, were also there as were photographers Victor Sailer and Lisa Coniglio. Like Navarra, Sailer is also a retired NYC firefighter.
Navarra planned his own funeral, according to his family. As memorable as it was –with bagpipers from the FDNY’s Emerald Society, a color guard and the bittersweet sound of a trumpeter playing “Taps”– he surely would have been disappointed by one aspect of the affair: it didn’t start on time.
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
PHOTO: Courtesy of the Staten Island Advance
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(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 17)
Tags: death, eulogy, fire department, firefighter, funeral, ING New York City Marathon, joanne bertucci, Mary Wittenberg, new york, New York City, new york city fire department, new york road runners, nyfd, nyrr, pass away, start coodinator, staten island, Staten island advance, vic navarra, victor j. navarra
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[…] Hundreds Say Goodbye To Vic Navarra Nearly 500 people filled Blessed Sacrament Church here this morning to bid their final goodbyes to Victor J. Navarra, the retired New York City Fire Department lieutenant who served as the start coordinator for the ING New York City Marathon for 25 years. Navarra died last Monday at the age of 55, having suffered for more than two years with sinus cancer. In a life which was defined by service to others, Navarra was remembered for his roles as a family man and neighbor, a firefighter, and an e […]
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