Paul Tegtmeier waited 20 years to become a New York City firefighter. He finally got the call just 18 months before 9/11, when he was 40. All that time he had been honing his skills as a volunteer firefighter in Hyde Park, NY, which is also how and where he met his wife. Stationed with Engine Co. 4 for 18 months, he was on his way to Ladder Co. 46 in the Bronx where he was permanently assigned.
Tegtmeier left behind a son, 6 and daughter, 3.