Nearly a year after FDNY Monsignor John Delendick’s death from a 9/11-related illness, a plaque dedication ceremony honoring the beloved chaplain was held Friday morning at the Brooklyn firehouse he called home.
Delendick, who died on Thanksgiving in 2023 at age 74 from pancreatic cancer, was remembered as both a generous and humorous figure, fiercely dedicated to the firefighters who make up the department.
“The Monsignor was a calming and steadying voice in their times of need. On good days he was a friend and a confidant, quick with a joke and a jab,” said Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker to the crowd gathered in the Canarsie firehouse.
The plaque, which is to be installed at Ladder 170/Engine 25/Battalion 58, mentions his work “shepherding our members during the rescue and recovery efforts” in the wake of 9/11. The event not only ultimately claimed his life but was the center of much of the work he did after the attacks.
The Queens native was ordained on Feb. 12, 1977, and became an FDNY chaplain 19 years later after serving in churches across Brooklyn. Delendick took over as the department’s senior chaplain after Father Mychal Judge became the first official victim of 9/11.
“He never forgot who was left behind and the years that followed were devoted to 9/11 families and this department,” said Tucker.
Delendick returned to the site multiple times in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, with the toxic dust of lower Manhattan eventually sickening the veteran priest. He arranged boat trips for 9/11 families to visit Ground Zero only weeks after the attack, gathering the mourners for a prayer on their trip from the Brooklyn Naval Yard to the site.
Even after his diagnosis of cancer, Delendick continued his work in the 9/11 community.
“Today we are here to remember someone who didn’t give a little more, he gave a lot more,” said FDNY Chaplain Rabbi Joseph Potasnik.
