Dennis Lawrence Devlin with cousins and daughter Kerry
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with sons Casey and Dennis
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with daughter Katie
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with wife Kathleen
Dennis Lawrence Devlin married Kathleen O'Keefe Februrary 12, 1972
Dennis Lawrence Devlin wedding portrait with wife Kathleen
Dennis Lawrence Devlin wedding portrait with wife Kathleen and both sets of parents
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with friend
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with his dog Sam
Dennis Lawrence Devlin in hat and candy necklace
Dennis Lawrence Devlin sitting on couch
Dennis Lawrence Devlin leaning against tree
Dennis Lawrence Devlin childhood portrait
Dennis Lawrence Devlin graduation portrait
Dennis Lawrence Devlin in tuxedo
Dennis Lawrence Devlin in a school play
Dennis Lawrence Devlin childhood formal event
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with Santa
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Firefighter Induction Ceremony
Dennis Lawrence Devlin wearing firefighter hat injured
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with firefighters in front of fire truck
Dennis Lawrence Devlin FDNY portrait
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Captain of E75 Bronx, New York
Dennis Lawrence Devlin in formal firefighter attire with friends
Dennis Lawrence Devlin in one of last photos taken of him overlooking WTC towers July 2001
Dennis Lawrence Devlin FDNY portrait
Dennis Lawrence Devlin with fellow FDNY firefighters
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Memorial 5K race bib
Dennis Lawrence Devlin 2008 Memorial 5K Orange County Post thank you advertisement
Dennis Lawrence Devlin 2010 Memorial 5K Orange County Post article
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Memorial 5K newspaper article 2003
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Memorial 5K newspaper article 2003
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Memorial 5K newspaper article 2003
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Memorial 5K newspaper article 2003
Dennis Lawrence Devlin FDNY memories from wife Kathleen
Dennis Lawrence Devlin FDNY memories from wife Kathleen
Dennis Lawrence Devlin Triangle Park memories from wife Kathleen
Queen Elizabeth II September 11 Memorial Garden
Conseleya 9/11 Memorial
Dewitt 9/11 Memorial
Montclair State University 9/11 Memorial
East Newark 9/11 Memorial
Fair Haven 9/11 Memorial
Freehold Township 9/11 Living Memorial Tree Grove
Crescent Beach Park - Flagpole/Memorial for 9/11 Victims
Garrison Elementary School American Patriot Garden
Dennis was an active member of his community of Washingtonville‚ NY‚ and St. Mary’s Church for 24 years. He was appointed to the FDNY on November 21‚ 1980 and was assigned to Engine Co. 45 in the Bronx. He was transferred to Ladder Co. 58 in 1987. He was soon promoted to Lieutenant in 1989 and assigned to Engine Co. 35 in the Harlem section of Manhattan. In 1993‚ he was promoted to captain and worked at Engine Co. 75 in the Bronx. He was instrumental in securing a new firehouse for Animal House E.75/L.33. While Captain of 75‚ he also waged a battle to have the American Flag displayed on their rig. This battle resulted in our American Flag being displayed on fire rigs throughout the city.
Dennis continued through the ranks. He was promoted to Battalion Chief in 1998 and assigned to the 9th Battalion in Manhattan. His last assignment was Division 3 on W. 77th St. where he served as the NYC Special Events Coordinator. He responded to the World Trade Center immediately after seeing it unfold on TV at the Division. He was in the City volunteering his time for the primary that day.
Dennis was also Chairman for the 1127 Committee working with many FDNY officers and firefighters to repeal a ‘condition of employment’ tax placed on uniformed city workers.
He was a dedicated husband‚ father‚ firefighter and remained an avid runner throughout the years. He attended every swim meet‚ basketball‚ volleyball and baseball game for all of his children and worked diligently with our other swimming families in our community to have our district incorporate a pool in the new high school.
He loved his music and watching sunsets from the deck of his home in Washingtonville. He will be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. His smile and zest for life were contagious and will live on in the hearts that he has touched.
New York Times Portraits of Grief
For 29 years, Dennis and Kathleen Devlin were man and wife, parents to four children. In a house on a small hill in upstate New York, they watched sunsets and laid plans to grow old together.
But Dennis Devlin, a battalion chief for the New York City Fire Department, is gone now, leaving Mrs. Devlin to try and hold on to their bond.
So, Chief. Devlin's hobbies have become her hobbies. Every morning, she's out on a three mile run, a habit she never cared for when her husband was alive, but one she hopes now will prepare her for a coming race that she is planning in his honor.
"I can hear him sometimes telling me not to get tired, pushing me," she said.
It is also because of her husband that no day passes without Mrs. Devlin thumbing through one of the 23 photo albums Chief Devlin labored over, for decades, meticulously labeling and dating each photograph. (The last photo he ever entered, taken three months before Sept. 11, was one of him in a helicopter flying over Lower Manhattan, staring at the World Trade Center.)
"We complained about him taking so many pictures, everywhere we went," she said. "But having those albums now is such a joy. We all look at them and think how blessed we are that he took the time and that we were a happy family."
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