By Jessica Easthope
Msgr. John Delendick would have been celebrating his 75th birthday on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
Firefighter Danny Prince was with the FDNY chaplain at the very end of his battle with 9/11-related pancreatic cancer.
“It broke my heart to see him deteriorate the way he did but he kept fighting right up until the end, and he always believed tomorrow would be a better day and he just inspired people,” Prince said.
Msgr. Delendick and 31 others were honored Wednesday at a memorial service at FDNY headquarters, their names added to the World Trade Center Memorial Wall. As of this year, the number of department members who have died of 9/11-related illnesses has surpassed the number of members who died that day.
“He used to talk about all the funerals he did, and he was just there for everybody; he was just a foot soldier,” said Prince.
At the service the FDNY has vowed to never forget using Msgr. Delendick’s words as examples of that promise. Though he and hundreds of other members did not die on 9/11, they paid the ultimate price for their service on one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.
“FDNY Chaplain Msgr. Delendick, he told the crowd ‘we come here to remember them and to thank them for the service they have done for us,’” said FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker.
Msgr. Sean Ogle, Diocese of Brooklyn’s vicar for clergy and Msgr. Delendick were classmates from high school through their ordination.
“It’s so fitting he has this recognition for what he did as a fire department chaplain because from day one he had a very, very pastoral heart,” said Msgr. Ogle.
This year on the 23rd anniversary of September 11, 2001, Msgr. Delendick’s legacy is looked to for hope by members of the FDNY past and present.
“He’s truly a saint and I know he’s up there right now with Mychal Judge,” said Prince speaking about Msgr. Delendick and Chaplain Mychal Judge who died on 9/11.
“How many times did they invoke the name of God today? And that’s what John sought to bring to people I think that would be his greatest legacy,” Msgr. Ogle said.
And now his service and sacrifice are memorialized forever.