Former FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches, a well-known advocate for September 11th first responders and a longtime member of the FDNY, will be laid to rest Monday in Brooklyn.

Riches died on Thanksgiving from a 9/11-related illness attributed to toxic dust exposure at the World Trade Center, according to the FDNY’s Uniformed Fire Officers Association. He was 74.

The union said Riches spent months at Ground Zero after the attacks, driven in part by his search for the remains of his son, Firefighter Jimmy Riches Jr., who was killed in the North Tower.

Riches personally recovered his son’s body during the recovery operation. He retired from the department in 2007 after 30 years in service.

The union noted that Riches’ death is part of the growing toll linked to World Trade Center exposure, say

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