FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Duggan, who attributes much of his success in life to his Catholic education, is receiving the Captain Timothy Stackpole Memorial Award.

The grandson of Irish immigrants who made their way to New York City in the 1920s from County Galway, Chief Duggan has always been fiercely proud of his Irish heritage. He attended Our Lady Help of Christians School, Midwood, and then Nazareth Regional H.S., Flatbush.

In 1990, he earned his bachelor of arts degree in political science from Fordham University, the Bronx. At the same time, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. After joining the NYC Fire Department in 1991, he began learning the pipes with the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes & Drums.

As a member of the band, he has been to Ireland several times to participate in competitions there. In 2006, the band placed second out of 65 other bands in the All-Ireland Pipe Competition; the first American band to do so well. He has also performed at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day, 2008, for President George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of Ireland.

In 2009, he served as a deputy grand marshal for the Queens County St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Belle Harbor.

Having been honored to know Captain Stackpole as a colleague, and privileged to call him a friend, it is with deep respect that Chief Duggan accepts this high honor.