Firefighter Mulvey honored at funeral service

Adrian Dragoo, a former member of the Woodside Warriors in Queens, knew Joseph Mulvey for 15 years.

He recalled when they responded to a fire, with people trapped inside. As the firefighters ran the line upstairs and entered the apartment, Mulvey’s helmet got knocked off. “If you lose your helmet, it gets hot and you could burn the top of your head,” he said.

Mulvey didn’t back out.

“He didn’t hand the line off to anybody else,” Dragoo said. “He opened the nozzle and was operating it with one hand while his other hand was on top of his head, stopping it from burning. He did not shut that line down until that fire was knocked down.”

Dragoo said that Mulvey was the firefighter he wanted to be.

Last Friday, hundreds gathered in Point Lookout to remember fallen FDNY firefighter Joseph Mulvey.

Family, friends, neighbors and coworkers banded together at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Mulvey’s home church since he was 10. He died last week following a fall while he was off-duty.

Mulvey, 45, was a member of Woodside Warriors, Engine 325 and truck ladder 163, where he served for 19 years. Firefighters from all different engines and ladders were there.

Before the service, bagpipers played and firetrucks made their way down Parkside Road Drive to the church. The trucks branded “In Loving Memory of FF Joseph Mulvey” on their windshields.

Mulvey grew up in Point Lookout and, as his wife Katelyn said during the memorial service, was “grateful to have grown up there.” She said he was “thrilled” when his parents moved the family there permanently. Growing up, Mulvey always wanted to be a New York City firefighter.

“That title gave you a great sense of pride,” Katelyn said. “And although there were many sleepless nights and hard work had to be done there, but Joe didn’t consider it work.”

Katelyn spoke about her husband’s many roles:  firefighter, uncle, brother, husband, son and his favorite, a dad.

“Boy was he a fantastic one,” Katelyn said. “Watching him in his most important role made me melt and brought out the absolute best in him.”

Joseph and Katelyn had two children, Joseph and Charlotte.

“You were one of the great ones,” Katelyn finished with. “You will live on and I assure you, you’ll never be forgotten, Joseph.”