'Always Smiling:' Lanoka Harbor FD Remembers Longtime Member

It never mattered how Daniel Inglis Sr. felt. The Lanoka Harbor Fire Station 61 life member always tried to light up the days of everyone around him. Inglis, a life member of the fire department, died earlier this month after a battle with cancer. He was 53.

"Dan, he’d give you the shirt off his back," said Assistant Chief Jack Conaty. "He could be having a crappy day, but you’d never know it. He was always smiling, joking around. If you were having a bad time or day, he’d always try to pick you up and try to make everything better."

Inglis joined the fire department in June 1990. He was active for 26 of those years. Inglis's generosity extended to everyone, especially families of firehouse members, Conaty said.

"Dan was on a lot of our committees that had to do with the children of the firehouse," Conaty said. "He and his wife put together Easter parties every year for members’ children. Anything that had to be done, Dan was there doing it."

Inglis experienced some tough moments. He suffered head injuries in an accident while on "truck duty" in 2014. His son, Daniel Inglis Jr., died in 2012 at age 25 from a paralyzing injury in a 2011 accident. Inglis Jr. was a Union City cop and Lanoka Harbor firefighter.

But Inglis Sr. maintained a positive attitude, Conaty said. He loved the Giants and tailgating, but most of all, he loved improving the lives of everyone around him.

"He loved the firehouse. He loved helping everybody in the community," Conaty said. "...He always had a great attitude about anything."

In lieu of flowers, Lanoka Harbor Fire Station 61 requested donations in Inglis's name to the American Cancer Society and Lanoka Harbor Firehouse.