posted 12-24-2012 03:03 PM               

Steven Belasco (cS: "SRB") died on May 8, from organ failure due to an acute respiratory infection. He was 65. From his obituary, as appeared in The New York Times:

Steve was an Officer and V.P. of Taxation and Global Real Estate at Colgate-Palmolive, where he worked for 33 years. A lifelong stamp enthusiast, Steve, after retirement, served for several years as Executive Director of The Philatelic Foundation and later as a Trustee. Steve also sat for 17 years on the Town of Greenburgh Zoning Board, the last 12 as chair.

Michael Behette (cS: "Michael") died on Sept. 17, of lung cancer. He was 55. From his obituary:

Behette, a firefighter assigned to Ladder 172 in Bensonhurst until his 2002 retirement... was vacationing in Florida when he heard that the twin towers had been hit by hijacked planes. Unable to fly to New York, the Dyker Heights resident rented a car and, getting speeding tickets on his way, he drove until he reached his destination: the wrecked scene at Ground Zero. He worked 31 days afterwards, digging up and cleaning debris and continued working at the scene for six continuous months, searching desperately for his missing colleagues.

posted 12-24-2012 08:48 PM               

Steve was a private guy, but we talked every year at the auctions. I was there when he bought Aldrin's toothbrush. I saw him briefly this year, but he was gone before there was any break in the auction for a visit.

I knew Mike better. He was a very friendly guy. We used to talk and compare items that we had in our collections. I still have the NYFD hat that he gave me years ago.

They will both be missed. The New York auctions just won't be the same without them to talk to anymore.