May God bless you and your...
Remembering Tommy on this 24th anniversary.
Marie
September 11, 2025 | Friend
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Thomas A. Gardner
Oceanside, New York
About
LOCATION
Oceanside, New York
Obituary
Send FlowersOf Science and of Laughter
Like a tree, or a starfish, Thomas A. Gardner reached in many different directions.
He was a 39-year-old firefighter who spent more than a dozen years battling blazes in Harlem, then moved on to the city's elite hazardous-materials unit in Queens.
He was a father and husband who taught his family to love canoeing and hiking and animals the way he did. He was an aspiring science teacher, who put himself through Queens College while working full time at that Harlem firehouse. He could wing one-liners with the best of them, and sold jokes to Henny Youngman and Joan Rivers.
He also played hockey for a Long Island team, with his older brother, Joseph. And with a fellow firefighter from Hazardous Materials Company No. 1, he performed in a comedy routine broadcast on a Long Island radio station.
"Originally, he was supposed to sit in the back and pass ideas along," said his wife, Liz. But sitting in the back was not his style.
At Queens College, his professors were amazed by his inquisitiveness and enthusiasm. "He had this intense curiosity about all the aspects of science," said one of them, Mark G. Miksic. At one point, they invited him to lecture, and he was a hit. Now the college has the Thomas A. Gardner Award, for students planning to teach science.
"There are a lot of people who are full of themselves, but Tom was never full of himself," said Rob Koudelka, his friend from Engine Company 59, known as the Harlem Zoo. "He never thought he was the smartest guy. He wanted to become smarter. And he never thought he was the best at anything. He wanted to get better."
Guest Book
On the 20th anniversary (how has it been that long??) our small Kentucky town had a week long event memorializing 9/11. Volunteers were given cards with a name and photo. I received Thomas Gardners. What a waste of such promise! What a sacrifice for our country to lose such noble, heroic people as we did that day! I have prayed for all of your family to receive peace, comfort and strength for your loss. I know words cannot erase the pain of losing a son, husband, father, brother and friend....
Debbie Reed
September 15, 2021 | Other
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Remembering Thomas on the 20th anniversary of 9/11...
Cindy Roe
September 14, 2021 | Galesburg, MI
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What a brave guy...
RIP.
A.L.
August 02, 2019
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I never knew Thomas but I met his lovely niece one day on the Long Island Rail Road. We talked for a while and I brought up 9/11. I was there on 9/11 - one of so many business men and women that lived through that horrible event. She told my of her uncle and her story touched me deeply. I never saw her again, and I don't even remember her name, but I still work downtown so on her behalf I stop at the WTC site and say a prayer for Thomas, for his family, and for all the fallen heroes. God...
Robert Schmidt
July 15, 2019 | NORTH MASSAPEQUA, NY
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I have a Flag of Honor that lists all victims of 9/11. I was reading the names of these people and the name on "Thomas A Gardner" caught my eye. I did not know any one personally who passed away on that fateful day. AS I read about Thomas what a great loss for his family and community. Thank you for sharing information about this great man.
Jim Tarr
September 16, 2014 | Salt Lake City, UT
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I am a fire captain at a volunteer company in Marshallton, Delaware. This past Sunday we were participating in a memorial walk, "343 Miles for 343 Brothers", as we regularly do. Firefighters dressed in full turnout gear carry a card with the name of a fallen FDNY brother as we walk a mile. At the end of the walk, each name is read and the bell of rememrance is rang in honor and memory of that firefighter. This year, I was joined in the walk by my Dalmatian, "Trixie". We carried two cards....
Thomas Gardner
September 13, 2013 | Marshallton, DE
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I met Tom at the Fire Academy in Emmitsburg in 1999. I was immediately impressed with his wit and sense of humor. I thought it was great that his wife and kids came to visit during the weekend break. Like many others before us, we formed bonds in two weeks that seemed as if they had been there for years. I was teaching a HazMat class at an industrial plant when the first plane struck. I told the class this is no accident and many good men are going to die today. I thought of my FDNY brothers...
Ronald Grow
November 14, 2012 | Pocatello, ID
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I had the honor of climbing for Thomas A Gardner today at the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at Red Rocks in Morrison Colorado. What a great person to climb in memory of. Fallen but Never Forgotten.
Margot Whalen
September 11, 2012 | Denver, CO
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