by MATTHEW CHAYES
Robert Beddia, one of the two firefighters who died battling a blaze near Ground Zero, spent much of his time at his Greenwich Village firehouse, where he helped teach younger men the job. On the first day of his wake yesterday, firefighters from across the city lined the street to honor Beddia's family and friends as they entered and left a Staten Island funeral home.
Inside, in an open mahogany coffin, Beddia - or Bobby, as his friends knew him - lay in his dress blue uniform. Nearby was a red FDNY flag, a gray department golf shirt and a two-man honor guard from his stationhouse.
Hundreds of mourners filed into the viewing room, including the parents of slain city police officer Russel Timoshenko, who was shot last month during a traffic stop in Brooklyn. Easels pictured hundreds of snapshots from Beddia's 53 years, 23 of them with the Fire Department - his wedding photo, family parties, his big smile.
And, as if a metaphor for Beddia's devotion to New York's Bravest, at the center of each collage were photographs of him posing with FDNY regalia.
James Cavolo, of New Jersey, who is retired from Beddia's Ladder 5 and Engine 24, ambled toward Harmon Funeral Home's entrance several times. But each time he turned away, too distraught to view the man who passed on pointers to younger firefighters.
"I can't go up there," said Cavolo, 48, choking back tears as he held his dress hat. The inside of that hat is decorated with a half-dozen Mass cards memorializing fallen comrades, including three from a 1994 fire at 62 Watts St. where three members of their stationhouse got trapped in an empty apartment building that was ablaze.
"Maybe I'll go in later," Cavolo said. "It's hard for me to look at him."
Beddia, who died fighting Saturday's fire at the Deutsche Bank building in lower Manhattan, could have retired with a generous pension, but he chose to continue doing the job he lived for.
"He had the zeal of a rookie," Cavolo said.
Rookies got lessons from Beddia - and Cavolo, whom Beddia used to needle to go golfing - was a beneficiary.
"He was one of the guys who trained me," Cavolo said. "And he put you to work."
Gesturing toward those who came to pay their respects, Cavolo said Beddia imparted his firefighting wisdom "so these young guys don't end up here."
The family is requesting that donations be made to the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation, 21 Asch Loop, Bronx, NY 10475.
Funeral arrangements
JOSEPH GRAFFAGNINO
A funeral Mass for Joseph Graffagnino will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today at St. Ephrem's Roman Catholic Church, 929 Bay Ridge Pkwy. in Brooklyn.
ROBERT BEDDIA
A funeral Mass for Robert Beddia will be celebrated at 9:45 a.m. tomorrow at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets in Manhattan.
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