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NYPD Sergeant Mourned After Dying from 9/11-Related Cancer

By Katie Honan | September 3, 2014 3:30pm
 Sgt. Paul Ferrara had worked at the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst since 2006. His colleagues and firefighters hung bunting on the precinct to memorialize him after he died Aug. 28, 2014.
Sgt. Paul Ferrara had worked at the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst since 2006. His colleagues and firefighters hung bunting on the precinct to memorialize him after he died Aug. 28, 2014.
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DI Ronald Leyson/Twitter

ELMHURST — A local NYPD sergeant was mourned this week after succumbing to cancer he developed after working at Ground Zero, family and the NYPD said. 

Sgt. Paul Ferrara, 43, died Aug. 28 after battling Stage 4 lung cancer that spread throughout his body, according to friends and his precinct commander. He was diagnosed with the illness this past January.

He last worked at the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst, where Deputy Inspector Ronald Leyson remembered him for bravely fighting his disease.

Leyson said Ferrara, who began his 22-year career in the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn, was a "good man and a great father."

The local firehouse helped hang purple and black bunting on the stationhouse last week, and Commissioner Bill Bratton also tweeted his condolences last week.

Fr. Rick Beuther from St. Bartholemew Church in Elmhurst came to the 110th Precinct last week to lead police officers and staff in prayer.

Ferrara joined the 110th Precinct in 2006 after being promoted to sergeant, according to friends.

A fundraiser was held in April to help his wife and son cover some of the medical expenses associated with the cancer.

His colleagues in the 110th Precinct also shaved their heads in solidarity and to help raise the much-needed funds.

Ferrara's wake was held Tuesday and Wednesday at Robertaccio Funeral Home in Patchogue, and his funeral will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Jude's Roman Catholic Church in Mastic Beach, Long Island.