Michael Peattie, of Sayville, dies after crash into Bethpage fire station, police say
Bethpage fire officials and Nassau police respond to the crash into the Bethpage Fire Station late Wednesday morning. Credit: Paul Mazza
A Sayville driver who died after colliding with a Bethpage firehouse on Wednesday coached kids and teens through his local church, a friend and fellow coach said.
For the past several years, Michael Peattie, 41, served as a Catholic Youth Organization track and field coach for Church of St. Lawrence the Martyr in Sayville, fellow CYO coach Tom Duffy told Newsday.
The K-8 team’s first practice, scheduled for Thursday, was canceled due to Peattie’s death, Duffy said. The team plans to practice after his family makes funeral arrangements. South Shore Running Club, the organizer of the fall season’s first CYO meet in which St. Lawrence was expecting to compete on Sept. 20, told Duffy it will rename the race the “Mike Peattie Invitational.”
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it, but I think we’ll try as a team,” Duffy, 48, of West Sayville, said. “Things are a little up in the air right now.”
Peattie, survived by a son and daughter who competed on the track team, volunteered his time each fall and spring season because “he just loved seeing the kids happy,” Duffy said. He estimated that Peattie coached between 200 and 300 kids and teens throughout his tenure.
“He was extremely personable,” Duffy said. “He had the patience of a saint.”
About 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Peattie was heading east in a 2024 Mazda on Stewart Avenue when he left the roadway and hit a utility pole before crashing into Bethpage Fire Department Station 4, according to the Nassau County Police Department. He suffered serious trauma and was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The crash remains under investigation.
While the team has other volunteer coaches, Duffy said Peattie “stepped up” in recent years to tackle many of the administrative tasks and essentially lead the program.
“He was a huge part of the CYO track program," he said. "It’s a lot of people to deal with, a lot of responsibilities, but he did it for his love of the kids. He liked seeing the kids getting medals and improving.”
A relative of Peattie’s declined to speak to a Newsday reporter when reached by telephone Thursday evening.
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