Officer of the Week – Sergeant John Gerard Coughlin

Remember September 11, 2001
Angels Among Us
Sergeant John Gerard Coughlin
Shield 375
ESS-4
August 4, 2009

Editor’s Note: We at the Chronicle, will never forget those police officers, who have given their lives in 9/11. Each week we will honor one with their stories.

This week we feature:

Sergeant John Gerard Coughlin
Shield 3751
ESS-4

John G. Coughlin was a giving man, and that kept him very busy.

Sergeant Coughlin, 43, was with the emergency services unit of the New York Police Department. In his spare time, he was a volunteer firefighter in Pomona, N.Y., where he lived with his family. “He was always on the go,” said his wife, Patricia Coughlin.

He was good at spoiling his three daughters, Erin, 16, Tara, 13, and Kayla, 6. He took them parasailing, white-water rafting and to amusement parks. He took them to baseball games, but there was a slight complication. He was a Mets fan and all three girls are Yankees fans — Mrs. Coughlin is neutral — and so they went to both stadiums. When the Yankees played the Mets in the World Series, well, that got a little tense.

A former Marine, Sergeant Coughlin was active in the Rockland County detachment of the Marine Corps League, helping older veterans and doing honor guard duty at funerals. “He loved that,” his wife said. “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” One of his favorite times was the middle of December, when he would take a week’s vacation to work on the Marine Toys for Tots Program. “He was a firm believer that every kid should have a toy for Christmas,” Mrs. Coughlin said.

– The New York Times 12/15/2001

Source: NYP Angels