"Why are all the good ones taken?" asked one friend of Port Authority Police officer David LeMagne, 27, of North Bergen, who lost his life in the attack of the World Trade Center last month. "He did so much for people."
Like more than 1,000 family, friends and fellow police officers, this long-time friend of LeMagne’s was standing outside Sts. Joseph and Michael Church on 14th Street and Central Avenue in Union City a week ago Friday waiting to say goodbye to his friend one last time.
LeMagne was appointed to the Port Authority Police Department on August 9, 2000 and graduated from the police academy last January. Before becoming a police officer, LeMagne was a paramedic tour chief at Jersey City Medical Center and University Hospital in Newark. He also served with the Union City Volunteer Emergency Services Unit.
While growing up in Weehawken, LeMagne graduated from St. Joseph Grammar School in Union City and Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City. He then went on to Essex County College and Kean University.
A true public servant
"You could always tell how David was feeling from his eyes," said his sister, Magely Alfano, during her eulogy at the Memorial Service. "Whether he was happy, sad or scared. His eyes were the windows of his soul."
"You could see the glow in his eyes when he talked about being a police officer," said Sergio Panunzio, who worked with LeMagne in the Union City Volunteer Emergency Services Unit.
LeMagne first began his life in public service at 11 years old when he joined the Union City Explorers Troop, a national service organization working with EMS units.
"He was a shy little boy," said Panunzio, who was the Chief of Operations for the Union City Volunteer Ambulance Unit when David first entered the Explorers. "But once you got to know him he was a great guy."
Anyone who knew LeMagne remembers that he always went the extra mile to help others.
"He really was a public servant," said Panunzio adding that he can’t remember any fundraiser that David and his family did not take part in. "He always went that extra mile."
One time when Union City Police Officer Frank DePinto, LeMagne’s best friend, worked on the scene of a fire with LeMagne as an EMT, he came back to the scene with clothes and food for the family, DePinto said.
"[The fire] really bothered him," said DePinto. "It bothered him because he knew that the family had an infant child and no place to live at that time."
One of the family
"To David, everything was pink," said his sister, remembering him when he was a toddler learning his colors. "Maybe that is why he was so sensitive and understanding."
The only thing that LeMagne loved more than being a public servant was his family.
"He always said, don’t ever forget to take care of my family," said DePinto.
However, this was a harder task than most would think.
"He cherished his family," said Alfano, who said that her brother was the one who encouraged her to fulfill her dream of becoming a registered nurse. "If you were David’s friend you were part of his family."
Panunzio remembers this always being true.
"He always had something about him. He was the type of guy you always wanted to be around," said Panunzio.
He added, "He was nothing but good. He was the kind of guy who always had a line, and it was comical. He would make fun of any situation, no matter how bleak it was. He would make light of it with his humor."
While DePinto said that LeMagne still had more to do in his life, he knows that he is still very alive to all of the people that he knew.
"I know now that all of the lives that David saved in his years as a paramedic and all of the hearts that he touched," said DePinto in his eulogy, "when they walk down the street, David will be with them."