Through the 1980s and early ‘90s, Charles Heeran graced the halls of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy (SFDSCA) and grew up playing basketball in its gym and schoolyard, before finding a love for rugby later on. Nearly 25 years ago, that young man’s life was cut short when the rising Cantor Fitzgerald star was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. But no matter how much time has passed, the Heeran family continues to carry on Charlie’s legacy through the Charles F. Heeran Foundation. Most recently that includes funding a large portion of the renovation of the same gym where Charlie played basketball. On Saturday, September 12, at 11:15 a.m., that legacy continues with a memorial Mass for Charlie Heeran at SFDS church and a breakfast reception to follow at his family restaurant, The Harbor Light, where the community generously donates in his memory.
On Tuesday, August 25, some of Charlie’s nieces and nephews, Bonnie and Rosie McCann, Matthew D’Emic and Colin Heeran gathered with SFDSCA Principal Christopher Scharbach on the floor of that recently renovated gym to take some photos, where their older cousins Charley Mae, Adison, Brielle and Jillian had graduated from not long ago, as well as all of their parents and Charlie’s siblings, Bernadette, Billy, Annemarie and Sean.
After many years of being well loved through gym time, CYO, Summer Classic and other tournaments, the SFDS gym was in need of some TLC. “Part of the gym floor was starting to warp, and part of the stage was starting to wear over time,” Principal Scharbach said. So after the school year was over, in June and early July, the gym floor was completely renovated and reopened for use in mid-summer, just in time for Summer Classic to finish off the season.
Principal Scharbach says that renovation was largely made possible by The Charles F. Heeran Foundation. “They donated a big portion of the renovation to the parish,” Principal Scharbach said. It’s what the Foundation has been doing since Charlie’s father, Bernie Heeran, started it a few years after 9/11. “They definitely helped with some technology upgrades for smartboards over the years, and more recently, they helped with some special education supplies and curriculum materials. That’s just recently, since I’ve been principal, but the Foundation has been very generous to St. Francis with donations for general upgrades over the last two decades,” Scharbach said.
Bonnie and Rosie McCann, Principal Chris Scharbach, Matthew D’Emic and Colin Heeran
“My dad will always go and ask them what is needed or what the money could be most useful for, and this year, he found out that they were working on the gym. A student’s education is important, but for these kids, sports and activities keep them going. It’s also an important aspect of a school, and I think my brother would love this. My brother did love sports and being active, and this was definitely needed,” Bernadette (Heeran) McCann said.
McCann described her late brother, Charlie, who died at 23, as someone who had a “zest for life. He definitely would have been very successful if he got to continue with Cantor Fitzgerald. He was smart and his work ethic was something I always remember because he would lifeguard and then he would go work at The Harbor Light. He was just always working. He was definitely a people person. He was generous with his friends and family and he…he lived life to the fullest,” she said.
That’s why a Foundation in his name that would help out his alma mater, and families going through sickness or hardship was formed, so future generations of kids and neighbors could live life to the fullest in his memory. Each year, around the 9/11 anniversary, the Heeran family hosts a Mass at St. Francis de Sales Church, followed by a breakfast reception at The Harbor Light, where the community comes out to make donations to support the family’s foundation, rallying around the Heerans for each anniversary of a day that changed their lives forever. And the family is eternally grateful for the support. “We are very grateful for the loyal supporters of the Foundation since we started this,” Bernie Heeran said.
McCann says the support over the years has meant “everything. Rockaway Beach, to me, is like nowhere else. There’s a lot to say about a community that’s been through so much together and still continues to…be happy. It’s hard to be happy around sad times but I feel the people around you make that happen.”
SFDSCA remains grateful for the support The Charles Heeran Foundation brings. “When the Foundation’s made different donations, it helps enhance the education for the kids. They’ve really been able to continue to support the children of the parish in our Academy in various ways—academically, socially, physically. Over the years, they’ve just been a champion for Catholic education here in Rockaway,” Principal Scharbach said. And in return, year after year, SFDSCA ensures people like Charlie Heeran and what happened on that day 25 years ago, are never forgotten.
“With the twenty-fifth anniversary coming up, it gives us as educators an opportunity to let our kids ‘never forget.’ Each and every year, we’re able to, at the beginning of the school year, take some time in our social studies lessons to teach about that day in an age-appropriate way,” Principal Scharbach said. From having kids read certain books to even taking them on trips to the 9/11 Memorial Museum and having a school-wide prayer service, SFDSCA finds various ways to help students understand a day they weren’t alive for. “They definitely look at the day as a day of remembrance, as a day of importance, where people lost their lives. We don’t forget them or those who were working that day, the firefighters, EMTs, police officers, transit workers, who risked their lives,” Principal Scharbach said. “Rockaway was one of those neighborhoods that got hit hard. Everyone had someone they knew that died that day. There wasn’t a block that wasn’t affected from Breezy to Belle Harbor. We will never forget them.”
To support The Charles Heeran Foundation, head to the memorial Mass on Saturday, September 12 at 11:15 a.m. at St. Francis de Sales Church on Beach 129th Street. A reception will follow at The Harbor Light. A $50 donation for adults is requested. Kids are free.
