Remembering West Hempstead 9/11 hero Robert DeAngelis

Robert DeAngelis was a firefighter no matter where he went.

So it made perfect sense that DeAngelis, a West Hempstead resident and a purchase manager in the Washington Group International’s World Trade Center office, was also a fire warden on the 91st floor of the South Tower on the morning of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

DeAngelis, 47, a 26-year member of the Lakeview Fire Department and a commissioner of the West Hempstead department, often traveled internationally for the Washington Group, where he worked on large-scale municipal projects. “He often flew back and forth to Manila, in the Philippines, to work on a dam there,” recalled Heather Senti, a Lakeview F.D. commissioner.

That fateful day, however, DeAngelis was in the company’s New York office and, after the first plane hit the North Tower, he began evacuating his floor as a precaution. He led a group of people down to the lower floors and then returned to his duties on the 91st floor, according to information documented by his wife, Denise.

Before United Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., DeAngelis was in his office, fielding calls from relatives and friends of his colleagues, telling them not to worry and that everything was all right. Shortly thereafter, he perished in the attack.

A recent visit to the Lakeview F.D. made clear the department’s admiration and respect for DeAngelis, who was not only a chief of the department, but also a dear friend to the many there who put their lives on the line for others every day. Senti said that her father, Fred Senti II, and DeAngelis had been best friends since boyhood. The two had grown up together, attending St. Thomas the Apostle school in West Hempstead through eighth grade and then West Hempstead High School.

“My grandmother has photos of the two of them in kindergarten,” said Senti. DeAngelis grew up on June Court and, after marrying his childhood sweetheart, Diane DeAngelis, and moved to Peach Grove Drive. They had two daughters together, Jenna and Lisa, who became friends with Senti and her siblings.

Diane DeAngelis died in 1994, of breast cancer, and DeAngelis married Denise DeAngelis four years later.