DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Bob Tolley and his wife Marian received an escort Monday to Daytona Beach International Airport from their New Smyrna Beach residence for their flight to New York, thanks to a contingent of fire departments locally.
But today, the grim reality for the grieving father and his wife begins in earnest with the family viewing at a church in Bethpage, Long Island, where they will begin the somber and gut-wrenching process of saying final farewell to fallen New York City firefighter William Tolley of Ladder 135 in Queens.
Tolley fell five stories to his death 2:20 p.m. Thursday while on the roof of an apartment building in the Rockaway section of Queens in a misstep with the aerial bucket that was shaking when it should have been stationary. Tolley landed on the concrete sidewalk and went into cardiac arrest -- succumbing to his injuries shortly after hospital transport. William Tolley was 42 and left behind his wife, Marie, and their 8-year-old daughter, Isabella.
"This is tough -- real tough," Tolley told Headline Surfer before heading to the airport.
These past five days have been the longest Tolley can recall having not talked with his son -- breaking the routine of one calling the other daily, even if for a few minutes.
"Billy was a good son," Tolley said, breaking down. "He loved his job, he loved his wife and he loved little Bella," said Tolley, three months shy of his 70th birthday and suffering from congestive heart failure and other ailments, including being being in a coma for two weeks three years ago.
"This is tough -- real tough," Tolley told Headline Surfer before heading to the airport.
These past five days have been the longest Tolley can recall having not talked with his son -- breaking the routine of one calling the other daily, even if for a few minutes.
"Billy was a good son," Tolley said, breaking down. "He loved his job, he loved his wife and he loved little Bella," said Tolley, three months shy of his 70th birthday and suffering from congestive heart failure and other ailments, including being being in a coma for two weeks three years ago.