Kevin Kelly, Queens firefighter from Long Island who was on the 9/11 front lines, dies of cancer

Kevin Kelly never liked being called a hero, despite his years of service as a New York City firefighter.

But his daughter, Kristen Wygand of Massapequa Park, said that’s how she remembers her father, saying “If I could rewrite the dictionary, my dad’s picture would be next to hero.”

Kelly, who worked the front lines on the day the Twin Towers fell, died on July 28 of 9/11-related cancers. He was 67.

Kelly was born in Queens on Dec. 19, 1955, and grew up in Bethpage. His love of adventure began in childhood, which was filled with skiing, camping and horseback riding.

After graduating from Island Trees High School in 1974, Kelly began working in the machine shop of the aircraft manufacturing company Grumman — now Northrop Grumman — headquartered in Bethpage. He also taught horticulture to adults with mental disabilities at AHRC New York City.

His wife, Gail Davidsen, met her future husband through her sister, who was going out with one of Kelly’s best friends at the time. Davidsen and Kelly began dating in 1976 and tied the knot in 1985. The couple and their only daughter settled in the Bellerose neighborhood of Queens.

In 1981, Kelly found his calling when he began firefighting in Jackson Heights, Queens. He was at Engine 307 Ladder 154 for his entire career.

“He loved being a nozzle man,” said Gail Kelly.

On 9/11, Kelly was walking toward the second tower when it fell.

“He came home probably about four o’clock in the morning, covered in debris,” Gail Kelly said. “His eyes were like glued shut, it was so bad.”

Wygand still remembers running down the stairs to give her father a hug that day.

“I just didn’t want to let go,” she said. “That’s the day that I realized how important his job was and how much he was sacrificing to go to work every day.”

The camaraderie of his firehouse was part of the reason Kelly loved his job so much, according to his wife. He lost two of his best friends — firefighters Dennis Carey and James Amato — on Sept. 11.

Kelly and Carey “were like twins,” according to Steven Keating, another Engine 307 Ladder 154 firefighter, of Rocky Point. The friends also worked roofing jobs on the side together.

For about a year after the tragedy, Kelly drove FDNY widows wherever they needed to go before returning to firefighting.

At one point, “Kev was kind of like the face of [Engine] 307,” Keating said. Kelly was both the company’s union delegate as well as its battalion’s delegate.

“If you had questions and you weren’t sure how to figure something out, Kev was there,” Keating said.

Kelly retired from the fire department in 2008. His free time was spent traveling with friends and family, which included Disney vacations, trips to Aruba and skiing.

“My dad and I did everything together,” his daughter said. “I loved the adventures that he used to take me on.”

Keating looks back fondly on late-night chats that turned into boating excursions with Kelly during their Lake George trips.

“He’d say, ‘Stevie, come on, you want to go out on the lake?’ and we’d go out on the lake in a boat,” Keating recalled. “He knew it like the back of his hand.”

Kelly moved to Massapequa Park in 2021. He battled three different cancers during his last three years.

“He fought a crazy valiant effort,” Keating said.

He had just about given up on treatment before learning that his daughter was pregnant.

“He found out my husband and I were expecting our first child in January and he goes, ‘I will do anything to get there,’ Wygand said. “He did try another treatment, which unfortunately didn’t agree with him.”

In addition to his wife, of Massapequa Park, and his daughter, Kelly is survived by three siblings: Michael Kelly of Bethpage, Robert Kelly of Seaford, and Dennis Kelly of Las Vegas. Kelly’s visitation was at the Massapequa Funeral Home South Chapel. Funeral services were held Aug. 7 at St. William the Abbot Roman Catholic Church in Seaford.