Dennis was the product of a Catholic education. He attended St. Jean the Baptiste grammar school in New York City, which is where he learned to be kind, helpful, honest, and a good Christian.

As a child, he always admired firemen and visited the neighborhood firehouse. Through hard work, going to the gym getting fit, and studying, he passed the New York City Fire Department test and joined the FDNY at age 23. This was one of the happiest days of his life. He always said he loved going to work because the “guys” were great! Once again, he decided to study for years and after successfully navigating many tests, he rose to the rank of battalion chief. In 2001, he was planning on retiring after 35 years of service. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Towers on 9/11 changed his plans. Due to the tremendous loss of many fantastic firefighters and his love of country and FDNY, he stayed on the job for three more years, spending long hours working on the recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site. Due to the dangerous conditions at the site, he contracted cancer, which was the cause of his death on March 21, 2020.

Dennis had many great days during his life, but some of his happiest were the births of his children. His children attended St. Paul Catholic School, and he donated his time to the school, painting the gym, refinishing the basketball floor, and helping to start the basketball program, which was one of his favorite sports to play and coach. When his daughter, Denise, became ill he devoted his time to taking care of her until her death. That was the saddest day in his life. Dennis was proud of his son, Michael, who stayed at his side until the end.

Dennis loved sports—football, softball, basketball, tennis, and most of all golf. He attended every FDNY chief golf tournament, and he would always come home laughing from every tournament, remarking about the great time he had spending with the other chiefs.

Dennis was an asset to the community, the FDNY, and especially his family and friends. His words of encouragement, wisdom, knowledge, and advice will be missed by all that knew him.