Dallas Fire-Rescue News Release

For Immediate Release:

                                             Contact: Jason L. Evans 

                (214) 670-7949 or (469) 323-5881

                 Jason.evans@dallascityhall.com

 

Searching for the Families of Firefighters Lost

 

Dallas: Saturday, October 24^th, at 10:00 a.m., Dallas Fire-Rescue (DFR) will be hosting its 2015 Firefighter Memorial Service. Hosted every five years, the Memorial Service is an opportunity for friends and families to pay their respects to DFR firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. It is also a chance for those families to meet the extended family which some of them never knew they were a part of. Unfortunately, not all of them are able to partake of the service. Not because they’ve passed on or are unwilling; but because they just don’t know.

 

Since being established in 1872, DFR has had 70 firefighters lose their lives in the line of duty. Ideally, we would like to have representatives from all 70 Line of Duty Death (LODD) families at the Memorial Service; but despite our best efforts we have not been able to locate everyone. Currently there are six families, of Dallas LODD Firefighters, who we have not been able to contact; but with your help AGAIN we are looking to lower, or completely erase, that number. Prior to the 2010 Memorial Service, there were 23 families we had not made contact with. Now we are only down to a handful.

 

The following is a list of the LODD firefighters, for whom we’ve not been able to find any descendants. If anyone has information that could potentially put us in contact with the families of these firefighters, they can contact DFR Chaplain Services, at dfd-chaplains@dallascityhall.com.

 

• Eliga Frank Kelly (Kelley): (Jan. 30, 1880 - Oct. 8, 1909)
  • Father was Samuel T. Kelley (of Scurry, TX)
  • Mother was Susan Jane Archy-Kelley (of Scurry, TX)
  • Wife was Mary Josephine Long Baird Kelly
  •  
• Henry G. Hodges: (Sept. 22, 1887 – Dec. 24, 1912)
  • Father was Henry Clay Hodges
  • Mother was Mallie or Molly E. Neely Hodges

 

• Patrick Galligan: (August 15, 1889 - April 16, 1921)
  • Father was Andrew Galligan
  • Mother was Honora Fitzpatrick Galligan.
  • He and his brother both came from County Cavan, Ireland; where the rest of his family is still believed to be.

 

• Glenn Reed Briggs: (April 15,1893 – March 28,1925)
  • Father was George W. Briggs
  • Mother was Sarah (Sadie) Willett Briggs.

 

• Willard Lee Burns: (April 30, 1905 – April 22, 1931)
  • Father was John B. Burns
  • Mother was Anna Adelia Watson Burns.

 

• Jesse David Ogburn: (January 28, 1881 – May 5, 1934)
  • Father was James Jefferson Ogburn
  • Mother was Ada F. Trice Ogburn.

   

  DFR is asking for your help in notifying the public of this matter, and possibly getting the list of names (included below) out for viewing just in case there are individuals who may know some of the family members of these firefighters. We would appreciate any help you could offer. Thank you all for your time and attention.