John Foster

John Foster, 74, Retired firefighter was the life of the party When John Foster laughed it was contagious. Genuine and uproarious, his belly-shaking chuckle transformed his shy demeanor and instantly made him the life of the party. He died on Monday after a brief illness. For the Foster family, all laughter has quietly ceased. Born and raised in Brooklyn, the son of Elinor and Frank, he met his wife, Sally (nee Elizabeth Gorman) at Tony's Ice Cream Parlor on Brooklyn's 8th Avenue. "It was love at first sight," Sally Foster said. "He was 17 and I was 15 but the moment I saw him I knew he was the one." Both John and Sally returned to that ice cream parlor every day at the same time in the hopes of seeing each other again. He proposed to her in his dress blue uniform before departing for a combat tour to Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps. The couple married upon his return in February of 1967. "My sister and brothers adopted him immediately as one of their own and that was no easy task," Mrs. Foster said of her 10 siblings who were widely known in their Park Slope neighborhood. "But John fit right in. They loved him. He became like another brother to them all." Called for employment with the FDNY in 1969, Mr. Foster proudly served the department as a firefighter for 28 years, assigned to Ladder Companies 107 and 131 and Rescue 5. Quiet, humble, hard-working and sincere, the Great Kills resident worked three jobs to provide for his family. Even after his retirement from the FDNY, he continued working as a Fire Safety Director until 2021. "I can still hear him singing the 'Rocky' anthem after he came home from working a 24," his daughter, Eileen Cappello recalled. "He worked two other jobs to make sure we had everything we needed and then would drive to his grandmother's house to stock her kitchen cabinets and have a cup of coffee with her. He genuinely had a heart of gold." Described as fun loving and honest, a man who never told a lie, Mr. Foster cared for his mother-in-law, parents, grandparents and younger brother, Robert, who was wheelchair bound. "Family was everything to him," his son, Brian Foster said. "He was the fun uncle, the fun brother. Everyone adored him." Mr. Foster had a great passion for ancestry, spending much of his time researching his family genealogy, compiling historical records and building detailed branches of the Foster/Gorman family tree. He also loved baseball and had a knack for memorizing team stats. He loved to sing and dance and together with his wife he happily hosted annual Christmas parties to which the entire neighborhood was welcome. His Sunday sauce was beloved in Rescue 5 and on the job he was well known for his quiet bravado. He received multiple class A and B recognitions for brave actions in the line of duty, yet he always felt that was what a fireman was meant to do. In addition to his wife of 54 years, Sally, son Brian and daughter, Eileen, Mr. Foster is survived by his daughters, Kathleen Albano, Elizabeth Keane and Carolyn Foster and 13 grandchildren. "He was an amazing and beloved husband, father and cherished Grandfather who had a very special bond with each and every one of us," Eileen concluded. "We will miss him terribly."