A Renaissance Man
Dave McCormack was, in no particular order, a Navy veteran, a very seasoned FDNY fire fighter and fire officer, a gifted union leader, an academic, first superintendent of the National Fire Academy, very smart, and much more.
He was also my boss for several years when I went to the International Association of Fire Fighters in 1998.
Physically he was on the short side, bald as a cue ball, beefy and as strong as an ox.
Dave McCormack
He was the ideal boss, for me at least.
When summoned to his office he would be found behind a very clean desk on which would be the file containing the information on the subject you were there to discuss.
Not one for small talk (my kind of guy) the point would be gotten to and that was that.
He would then swivel around, place the file on his (also clean) credenza, the signal that the meeting was concluded.
I imagine he was the same on the fireground, expecting action with a minimum of chit-chat.
It turns out we shared a love for reading, especially military and presidential biographies.
But try as I might, I rarely had any luck inducing him to reflect on his time at 58 Engine or his other FDNY assignments.
Was it ancient history for him or just plain reticence?
He did tell me of the time as a newly promoted captain he found himself covering a tour on the fireboat as they stood by in the aftermath of a ship collision and fire in New York harbor.
To his considerable dismay the ship reignited on his watch.
Dave was a man of humorous rejoinders.
My favorite, in use to this day, was his way of expressing skepticism at someone’s dubious claim:
“We can tell any lie we want to as long as we don’t start believing them ourselves.”
Dave will be missed.