Hundreds of firefighters paid their respects to fallen hero Bravest Patrick Brady at his wake in Brooklyn on Friday, saluting his casket in heartbreaking tribute while his devastated wife mourned her “rock.”
Brady, 42 — who died while battling a massive blaze in Brownsville on Saturday night — was remembered as “larger than life” and “a genuinely good person” outside the service in Marine Park.
“Every story shared, every hug and every kind word is helping us navigate the pain of losing my husband, my best friend, my rock, Patrick,” his wife Kara Brady said at a press conference after the 2 p.m. wake.
Hundreds of uniformed firefighters pay respect to fallen hero Bravest Patrick Brady at his wake in Brooklyn on Friday. Paul Martinka“If I could choose anyone in the world to love, I would choose him over and over again,” she said, choking up.
“He always had a smile to share, a joke to tell — and the ability to make you feel like you were the most important person,” she said. “The firehouse was his second home, and I am forever grateful that he was surrounded by his second family, on the night he passed.”
Brady — an 11-year FDNY veteran from a long line of Bravest — died of a heart attack on the roof of a six-story apartment building that erupted into flames.
On Friday, a sea of uniformed officers snaked around the block outside the Marine Park Funeral Home and saluted Brady’s casket.
Brady, 42, died battling a blaze in Brooklyn on Saturday. Facebook/Patrick Brady
A long line of firefighters snaked around the block outside Brady’s wake. Paul MartinkaInside the funeral home, mourners packed two somber viewings framed by towering sprays of multicolored flowers.
Brady lay in an open casket with a gold cross hanging above him, a silver one resting at his side, and a football tucked near the feet of the loyal New York Jets fan.
“Patrick was larger than life,” FDNY Battalion Chief Scott Coyne said outside the wake. “He represented what a firefighter and more importantly a genuinely good person should be.”
He described the tragic hero, who served with Engine 227 in Brooklyn before transferring to Ladder 120 in 2022, as “everyone’s favorite bartender” who has “become a legend.”
“Pat Brady was one of our best,” FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito added.
PJ Connor, a musician from the East Village, bonded with Brady and his friends at music gigs in Rockaway, where the fallen smoke eater lived.
“I’ve kind of watched them grow up, coming to our shows,” Connor said.
“I’ve watched them just become great men. I’m just so heartbroken by this.”
Mayor Eric Adams attended an earlier family-only wake for Brady, and Attorney General Letitia James made an appearance at the wake Friday afternoon.
Brady’s wife, Kara Brady, made a statement after the wake. Paul Martinka
“Every story shared, every hug and every kind word is helping us navigate the pain of losing my husband, my best friend, my rock, Patrick,” his wife said at a press conference. Paul MartinkaGuardian Angels founder and former Republican mayoral contender Curtis Sliwa turned out for the night service.
“I grew up in that area…so I understand the buildings that they have to go into and the risks that they take that no one really understands,” Sliwa said.
“The least we can do is come and pay our respects.”
Brady’s brothers, Jimmy and Brian, his cousin Pete, and his uncle Pete are all either retired or active firefighters, the department said earlier this week.
Brady’s death marked the second Bravest line-of-duty loss of life in just two weeks. Paramedic Salih Abdur Rahman died Oct. 29, after finishing a shift at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island.
