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NY Post Online/Tamara Beckwith Mary Fahey, Denise Ford and Ann Downing (from left), widows of the Magnificent Three, thank New Yorkers for their generosity during last night's ceremony at the One 51 Restaurant in Midtown.

STEVE DUNLEAVY
NY Post Online

August 29, 2001 -- SURE, it was a big chunk of money. But it was a bigger chunk of heart. A chunk of heart from Americans who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars - and, in some cases three, four or five dollars.

The widows of the Magnificent Three, firemen Harry Ford, Brian Fahey and John Downing, were at the One 51 Restaurant in Midtown last night as Post Publisher Ken Chandler presented them with checks totaling $1,627,000, to be divided equally.

Ann Downing, from County Down, Ireland, said: "This is incredible that people cared so much."

Denise Ford, widow of Harry, said: "This, obviously, is a bittersweet day.

"Oh, yes, you don't know how much I miss him, and I'll miss him forever, but he would love so much to see the great generosity and heartfelt feelings of the average citizen and the New York Post."

Mary Fahey said: "Oh, yes, it's bittersweet, but it's so beautiful to think that the people in the Big Apple are very special people.

"I would live in a shack and eat dog food if I could have him back, but this is such a beautiful gesture by The Post and the Fire Department, who have done such a gorgeous thing to show how much our husbands were loved."

The Magnificent Three died battling a ferocious Father's Day blaze in Astoria, Queens. Their untimely deaths left three women widowed and eight children without fathers, so The Post and the United Firefighters Association launched a fund to raise money for the kids.

And kindhearted New Yorkers just kept giving.

Tom Lamaccia, treasurer of the UFA, thanked The Post, the public and his staff for documenting every cent that came through the pipe.

In the corner, as people enjoyed a moment that pales before an eternity of loss, were some kids.

They were Casey Ford, 14, Harry Ford, Jr., 13, Brendan Fahey, 8, Jessie Ford, 12 and Gerard Ford, 10.

They were eating french fries with relish. Joanne and Michael Downing would soon join them.

A good night that came only because of a terribly tragic day.

And then, to remind us that tragedy is never far away, we found out another fireman had gone to join his mates in a better place than this. Rookie Mike Gorumba was only 27, and his wife is left with a 2-year-old son and a baby on the way. He died of a heart attack yesterday fighting a fire on Staten Island.

We didn't come close yesterday to paying our debt to these men who are the Bravest of the Bravest of the Bravest.