Firefighter Gabriel Lee, who died during a night shift in North Philadelphia Saturday, was a kind and soft-spoken father of three who had worked in the department for more than 20 years, his family said Sunday.
Lee, 42, of East Germantown, was also an accomplished amateur boxer, said his mother-in-law Faustine Myers, and he was recently baptized at Second Baptist Church of Germantown, the same church where his son sings in a choir.
"He was a wonderful man," Myers said.
For each of those reasons and more, Lee's sudden death Saturday night was a complete surprise, Myers said. "We're just still in shock," she said from Lee's house Sunday, where family had gathered to mourn. "This was so unexpected."
City officials have not yet disclosed Lee's cause of death, saying that an investigation is ongoing.
Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel on Sunday declined to elaborate, though he did say that Lee had responded to various calls Saturday night at Ladder Company 12, 1325 West Cambria Street in North Philadelphia.
"It's still early, and certainly we'll provide more information to everybody when we have more," Thiel said.