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Lead Stories: Thursday, August 28, 2008

Hundreds Say Goodbye
To Vic Navarra

Posted January 5th, 2008 at 4:15 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Columns, SPOTLIGHT

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 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.”
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Note on the News: Video Report on Vic Navarra

Posted January 1st, 2008 at 2:26 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

The local all-news cable channel in New York City, NY1, has a video report posted on their website on Vic Navarra, the retired firefighter who worked as the start coordinator of the ING New York City Marathon for 25 years. To see the report, go to this link:

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=77040

Then click on either “DIAL UP” or “BROAD BAND” to see the report, depending on the speed of your internet connection. The report lasts two minutes and 25 seconds.

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NYC Firefighter & Marathon Coordinator Victor Navarra Succumbs to Cancer at 56

Posted December 31st, 2007 at 10:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Victor Navarra, the retired New York City firefighter who was the start coordinator of the ING New York City Marathon for 25 years, died this morning after being in a coma for two days. He was 56 and had suffered from cancer which had begun in his sinuses.

“The more someone gives in life, the harder it is to lose them,” said ING New York City Marathon race director, Mary Wittenberg, in a prepared statement. “Vic was a giver. In every way. Of his time, energy, emotions and passions.”

Although he was retired, Navarra volunteered to work at Ground Zero after the attacks of 9/11 in 2001, spending long hours on “the pile” as the rescue workers called the massive heap of rubble left after the World Trade Center was brought down. In 2005 he was diagnosed with malignant tumors adjacent to his sinuses. Efforts to eradicate the cancer failed, and Navarra’s health was failing in the lead-up to this year’s marathon. Nonetheless, he was still engaged in the planning process and was still at the start of the race despite losing his eyesight to the cancer.
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