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 William
Raymond Cavanaugh
Chief,
Glynn County Fire
Department, Georgia, Retired
Born:
April
1, 1922
Died:
August 29, 1997
William
Raymond Cavanaugh, 75 a fire chief for 33 years, Died August 29,
1997, suddenly, while playing golf in Coral Springs, Florida. Chief
Cavanaugh was born and raised in Lackawanna, New York. In,
1942, after the outbreak of World War II, Chief Cavanaugh
enlisted in the US Coast Guard. He served from 1942 to
1945 in the Pacific theater of operations, on the Coast Guard
manned ship USS Sterope. While on the Sterope, he
participated in amphibious landings on Guam, Guadalcanal and
Leyte Gulf, where they took various Marine Divisions ashore. After
the war, in 1947, he joined the Lackawanna New York Fire
Department. He rose through the ranks, making Lieutenant
in 1957, Captain in 1960 and Chief in 1961. Lackawanna
named Chief Cavanaugh, "Man of The Year" for 1963. In
April of 1964, he was named to fill the newly created post of
Director of Public Safety for the city of Lackawanna. He
commanded both the Fire and Police Departments for that city. After
25 years service for the City of Lackawanna, he retired to
Jekyll Island, Georgia to enjoy his beloved golf. This
sabbatical lasted several months until, tired of retirement, he
applied for the position of Fire Chief for Glynn County,
Georgia. On
June 6, 1972 he was named the Fire Chief for Glynn County.
At that time the department had 10 paid personnel and four
pieces of fire fighting apparatus. Following 20 years of
progress, the Chief and his department grew to over 85
personnel, 29 pieces of apparatus, and 6 fire stations. He
started the county's emergency medical service which was a model
for the rest of the southeast United States. Chief
Cavanaugh has been a charter member of Region Nine Emergency
Medical Services Counsel, President of the Georgia Association
of Fire Chiefs in 1976, President of the Southeast Fire Chiefs
Association in 1987. He has been a member of the board of
directors for the International Association of Fire Chiefs from
1987 to 1992.
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