Bethpage, NY – Thousands of mourners gathered at the Long Island funeral of William Tolley (TUH’-lee), a New York City firefighter who fell to his death last week while battling a fire a Queens.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Tolley’s casket was carried into St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church in Bethpage Thursday morning to the sound of bagpipes as firefighters, some from as far as Chicago, Detroit and Louisiana, stood at attention.
In their eulogies, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro (NY’-groh) commended the 42-year-old Tolley for being “truly something special” and Mayor Bill de Blasio praised him for living “the way we should all live.”
Tolley was on the roof of an apartment building when he fell five stories. Investigators still don’t know what caused him to fall. He leaves behind a wife and 8-year-old daughter.
{NewsPhotosEmbed 872765650}