Fallen North Haven Firefighter Posthumously Promoted

NORTH HAVEN, CT — North Haven Firefighter Anthony DeSimone was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant of the North Haven Fire Department by the North Haven Fire Commission at a Special meeting on Monday night, according to officials.

DeSimone, 50, died Thursday, Aug. 24 after suffering a medical emergency when he returned home from a 38-hour continuous shift, officials previously said.

“Firefighter DeSimone had been working hard to achieve the rank of Lieutenant and was on the department's current promotion list after passing both written and assessment center testing,” according to a news release from the North Haven Fire Department. “He continued to sign up for continuing education classes to further prepare himself for a leadership role as a company officer.”

North Haven Fire Chief Paul Januszewski said, “The elevation of FF DeSimone to the rank was inevitable, he had studied hard and committed himself to furthering his education within the fire service.”

The promotion is effective Aug. 28.

Read more from the news release below:

Funeral Service arrangements for friends and family.

The visiting hours for Lieutenant DeSimone will be Wednesday, Aug. 30 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Havens Family North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue. Family and friends are invited to go directly to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish at St. Therese Church, 555 Middletown Avenue, North Haven on Thursday morning, Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. to attend a Mass of Christian burial and are also invited to attend the committal service immediately following with full departmental honors in All Saints Cemetery. Please omit flowers and if so desired make contributions to the Anthony A. DeSimone Children’s Education Fund, 33 Sara Circle, North Haven, CT 06473.

Read the full obituary here.

Funeral Instructions for Uniformed members.

Wake - Uniformed Emergency Service members are asked to assemble in the parking lot of The Havens Family North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue on Wednesday, Aug. 30 by 2:15 p.m. Arriving members will line up for a procession to honor Lieutenant DeSimone and his family at 2:30 p.m. sharp. Order of lineup will be North Haven Fire Department members and other Emergency services, followed by mutual aid partners and uniformed delegations from outside the area. Coordinators will meet arriving members in the lot. Parking will be in the St Barnabas parking lot or across the street in the store lot.

Funeral - Uniformed Emergency Service members are invited to go directly to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish at St. Therese Church, 555 Middletown Avenue, North Haven on Thursday morning, Aug. 31 at 9:30 a.m. to line up outside and attend a Mass of Christian burial. Parking for the Church services will be in the school parking lot for friends and family and on area side streets for uniformed members. The family has requested that only friends, family, and North Haven Uniformed members attend the grave side services due to space. Following mass, out of town uniformed members are invited to go to 12% Beer Project located at 341 State Street, North Haven, CT 06473 for a post funeral gathering and celebration of life.