Mort Greenbaum was born in Harlem on August 21, 1917, the third child of Alexander and Edna Greenbaum. The Greenbaums were a Reform Jewish, middle-class family who had emigrated from Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in the early 1800s. They strongly believed in education and in being good American citizens.
At age nine, Mort’s brother Arthur introduced him to his first fire alarm. He never lost his fascination with firefighters and fire engines. Over the next sixty years, Mort devoted countless hours to supporting the firefighters he admired, never asking for recognition. He became the only person accepted as a member of all three fire clubs: the Cycle Club, the Bell Club, and the Third Alarmers.
Mort also cultivated a special friendship with Father Mychal Judge, the New York City Fire Department chaplain, and was later mentioned in Michael Daly’s book about Father Judge. Near the end of his life, the department surprised Mort by naming him an Honorary Assistant Chief. His love of the fire service lives on through his oldest son, Gary Greenbaum, a longtime FDNY dispatcher in the Bronx.
