Andrew Francis Clarke entered eternal life on Jan. 31, 2025 just a few weeks after the loss of his beloved wife of 64 years.

He was a generation removed from County Cavan and a proud son of the Bronx. Surely there are many who love the Bronx and think much of it and its blessed people. They will all have to get in line behind Andy.

If you were fortunate enough to be, like Andy, a child of the Bronx, armed with a surname and a parish, he could tell you all that you could possibly want to know of your family, your parents, siblings and cousins and the family's illustrious history, and possibly a few things you might not want to know about the lot of them. He loved to tell tales and sing about the Bronx and High Rockaway, his Rockaway. He loved Irish music and celebrations with his family.

In his youth he was a gifted basketball player and later a member of the fierce South Nyack Softball League. After those competitive times had passed, he loved listening to WFUV on Sundays and watching children and birds at play.

He may have loved the Bronx, but he hated the Yankees; his devotion was to his family, his community, and the National League's Dodgers, then its Mets. The Giants also earned his devotion even as they continually broke his heart.

An Army veteran and a graduate of Fordham University, Andy proudly and courageously served the people of the Bronx and Manhattan in the Fire Department of New York for more than 30 years. He saw the city through its worst and saw his fellow fire fighters at their best, scaling fire escapes and crawling through burning apartments and single family homes while the Bronx was burning and the city was broke. He saved the people—over and over. He never talked about it. Some memories can only be carefully revisited.

He was unable to escape that "B" for the Bronx, moving to Blauvelt, New York, in 1964, where he lived many years with his growing family. After Blauvelt he retired to Barnegat, New Jersey, then Boynton Beach, Florida.

Andy was born in the Bronx on Dec. 1, 1934. His parents, Andrew and Susan Clarke, as immigrants always have and still do, came to America with nothing. They built a life here with their children.

Andy is predeceased by his wife Maureen, his brothers Patrick, Terence and Thomas; and his sisters Susan and Kathleen and their spouses Mary Dell'Oro, Anne Finan, Timmy Hickey and Bill Ryan. What a party they must be having now that they are all together again though we will miss them so.

He is survived by his brother Vincent and his wife Lucia, and his children—Andrew with Chia-fen, Kevin with Megan, Michael with Monica, and Deirdre with Dave—and grandchildren Andrew, Padraic, Liam, Eoin, Aidan, Elaine and Declan. He will be missed by scores of nephews and nieces across the country and the globe.

Visitation will be on Wednesday, Feb. 5th, 4-8pm, at Moritz Funeral Home in Tappan, N.Y.

His life will be celebrated in a memorial Mass on Thursday, Feb. 6th, 11am at St. Catharine of Alexandria Church in Blauvelt.

In lieu offlowers, please consider a donation to WFUV , National Audubon Society , The New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation or your favorite Bronx-based school or charity.