Retired FDNY Firefighter Dominick Pace remembers Mike Sofia, his best friend of 37 years. The men played football on Staten Island together, both joined the FDNY and worked at E-165/L-85 together, were partnered at the World Trade Center together on 9/11, and remained close until Mike Sofia’s death from World Trade Center-related illness in 2005 at the age of 53, reports Nick Regina for the Staten Island Advance.
“You were happy to come in and see Mike was working,” said Pace. “You knew he knew what he was doing, he was confident. He was a great teammate and fun to be around. Not only was he smart, sharp, and fun to work with, he was an expert chauffeur who took pride in his job and the FDNY,” he added. “If you had a fire, Mike was the guy you wanted on the controls.”
