Honorees

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Year Honored
2009
Honoree
Edward P. Mueller
Agency
West Islip Fire/EMS
Agency City
West Islip
Agency State
NY
Last Call
2/2/08
Cause of Death
On-duty Cardiac
Biography
Edward Mueller loved helping people. An emergency medical technician for the West Islip Volunteer Fire Department, he would roll out of bed sometimes several times a night, pulling on the clothes he had laid beside the bed and grabbing the keys he hung beside the front door.<br /> <br /> He died February 2, 2008 from a heart attack that began Friday night, February 1, while responding to a call that turned out to be a false alarm. He was 50 years old.<br /> <br /> The fire department was so important to him. In 2006 he was honored for responding to the most calls in the department at nearly 1,000 alarms. Mueller was father and stepfather to 7, adopting their last child from China. Ed worked as a physical therapist assistant at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. He loved his patients at the hospital and was so well loved by everyone.<br /> <br /> Ed's first passion was horticulture, earning a degree in botany and horticulture and working in the landscaping industry. His family has fond memories of him pointing to trees and plants and reciting the Latin name of each. He cultivated a plush garden at home, relishing the dirt of his garden, and the sand and surf of the Caribbean. He loved cruises and at his 50th birthday party the guests contributed to send him on a cruise which was to leave on the Saturday he was buried.<br /> <br /> Honored 2009