Robert Newman died on February 9, 2017, from lung cancer related to his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

As a young man, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served for a year in the Vietnam War. He was awarded a Purple Heart. He met his future wife, Claire, shortly after he returned home from Vietnam.

He was hired by the FDNY in 1968 and retired after a 39-year career. He served all of those years with Ladder 18 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He loved his firehouse and the camaraderie he shared with his “second family.” He and his fellow firefighters responded to the World Trade Center site after the first plane hit on September 11, 2001, and they were there when the Twin Towers fell.

He was survived by his wife, Claire; his sons, Bobby and Michael; and his sister, Kathleen Smith.