Holly MatkinStony Brook, NY – Retired New York Police Department (NYPD) Assistant Chief John “Jack” McManus died in the line of duty on Monday, following a battle with cancer that developed after his service at the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Sep. 11, 2001.
The 67-year-old retired police chief had been receiving treatment for metastatic melanoma for approximately 16 months prior to his death, the New York Daily News reported.
The vicious disease developed as a result of his service at Ground Zero, according to the paper.
Chief McManus’ retirement was just over the horizon when the planes slammed into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Daily News reported.
As soon as he learned about the attacks, Chief McManus left his family’s Long Island home and headed for Ground Zero.
“He ran in and we didn’t see him for weeks,” recalled his wife, Colleen.
Instead of retiring as planned, Chief McManus stayed on the force at the request of then-NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly in order to handle the department’s response to the protests and mass arrests involving the 2004 Republican National Convention, the New York Daily News reported.
Chief McManus’ lifelong goal since he joined the NYPD in 1979 was to be “able to make a difference in New York City, working in law enforcement,” Colleen told the paper. “And he did.”
After retiring from the force in 2006, Chief McManus became the security director at the World Trade Center, where he remained until 2009.
He later served as the Director of Public Safety on Roosevelt Island from 2013 until June of 2019, when the cancer he developed as a result of his service at the World Trade Center terrorist attacks forced him into retirement for the final time, the New York Daily News reported.
Approximately four months later, Roosevelt Island named a soccer field in his honor.
NYPD Chief of Department Terrence Monahan said that that he and Chief McManus had served together in Manhattan North, and that he considered him to be a “good friend.”
“He was instrumental in organizing the department’s response to the attack on the World Trade Center as the Chief of Operations,” Chief Monahan told the New York Daily News. “He was a true professional and will be missed.”
In 2019, the state Senate awarded Chief McManus with the Liberty Medal in honor of his heroism and lengthy NYPD career.
Colleen said it is important for citizens to remember the sacrifices made by Sept. 11 first responders, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Daily News reported.
“Their lives have been chipped away, ever since that day,” she said of those who served. “I just didn’t want that to go unheard — that John McManus made an impact on the city as a chief on the NYPD.”
In addition to his wife, Chief McManus also leaves behind his son and daughter, who are 21-year-old twins, the New York Daily News reported.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of New York Police Department Assistant Chief John “Jack” McManus, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service.
Rest easy, hero. We’ll hold the line from here.