smokenpipesjim
03-19-2009, 12:44 AM
Bergan drummer died while marching in parade
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Last updated: Tuesday March 17, 2009, 1:35 PM
BY AMY NEWMAN AND EVONNE COUTROS
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
A member of The Police Pipes and Drums of Bergen County collapsed and died just after noon today while marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Steve Dunne, 59 and a tenor drummer, had marched from 41st Street to about 75th Street before collapsing, said witnesses at the parade.
The group was leading the historic "Fighting 69th" up Fifth Avenue when Dunne collapsed. Members of the group performed CPR on Dunne. He was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital at 12:36 p.m.
The band then took a bus to the New York City Armory on Lexington between 26th and 27th streets, where it finished its performance.
"We lost a brother in our band," said drum sergeant Jimmy McMorrow. "The reason we finished today was him and his honor. It’s a tragic loss. He would have wanted us to finish this."
Dunne, McMorrow said, lived in the Bronx and was unmarried with no kids. He was an original member of the band from 1992, playing the bass drum.
"People are going to remember Stevie for the way he lived," said band secretary Billy Gravius. "He was a stand up guy and always cared about the band, his family and friends. He was an old school Irish cop. If you were smart enough to listen to him, you learned a lot."
AMY NEWMAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Dunne's cap resting on top of a drum. The band finished the parade in his honor.
The announcement was remenisant of 1995's Parade when F.D.N.Y. 's Charter Drum Major James "Big Jim" Corcoran finished the parade and Had entered The subway station enroute to the armory, when he collapsed and succumed at the age of 62
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Last updated: Tuesday March 17, 2009, 1:35 PM
BY AMY NEWMAN AND EVONNE COUTROS
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
A member of The Police Pipes and Drums of Bergen County collapsed and died just after noon today while marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Steve Dunne, 59 and a tenor drummer, had marched from 41st Street to about 75th Street before collapsing, said witnesses at the parade.
The group was leading the historic "Fighting 69th" up Fifth Avenue when Dunne collapsed. Members of the group performed CPR on Dunne. He was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital at 12:36 p.m.
The band then took a bus to the New York City Armory on Lexington between 26th and 27th streets, where it finished its performance.
"We lost a brother in our band," said drum sergeant Jimmy McMorrow. "The reason we finished today was him and his honor. It’s a tragic loss. He would have wanted us to finish this."
Dunne, McMorrow said, lived in the Bronx and was unmarried with no kids. He was an original member of the band from 1992, playing the bass drum.
"People are going to remember Stevie for the way he lived," said band secretary Billy Gravius. "He was a stand up guy and always cared about the band, his family and friends. He was an old school Irish cop. If you were smart enough to listen to him, you learned a lot."
AMY NEWMAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Dunne's cap resting on top of a drum. The band finished the parade in his honor.
The announcement was remenisant of 1995's Parade when F.D.N.Y. 's Charter Drum Major James "Big Jim" Corcoran finished the parade and Had entered The subway station enroute to the armory, when he collapsed and succumed at the age of 62