Local News
Port Jervis Fire Department appoints chaplain
By Sharon E. Siegel
Jun 24, 2008, 09:32 PST

Fr. George Hafemann

Port Jervis Fire Department recently welcomed Father George Hafemann as a member of Excelsior Engine Company #5 and chaplain of the department’s active all-volunteer service organization. Its members couldn’t be happier.

“Father Hafemann is doing a great job,” said PJFD Chief Joseph Kowal. “He’s there for any firefighter who might be having problems and would like to talk with him; and he’s also there for all department events in which a chaplain is needed. We’re very happy that he accepted this position.”

Rev. Hafemann, age 35, came to Port Jervis last year when he was appointed as past of the city’s St. Mary’s Church. He became chaplain as a result of being approached by parishioner/PJFD Secretary Dick Drew during a welcome party hosted by parishioners the weekend of his arrival.

“The rest is history,” said Hafemann. “I am quite honored to have been asked and to serve.”

Drew said he knows his pastor will continue to do a great job as chaplain.

“He is young, kind, and eager to become involved in the city,” said Drew. “A chaplain is a much-needed position, and I know many will turn to him for support and help.”

Hafemann sees his role as chaplain as a public one, leading the prayers at the annual Memorial Service, leading the department in prayer when a member dies, marching with the officers in the parade, etc.

“I also pray for our firefighters (and police officers) regularly myself,” he noted. “I suppose that, as time goes on other dimensions of the role will emerge.”

Hafemann said he personally finds the department’s long history fascinating and has been pleased to discover what a great spirit of generosity exists within the city he serves.

“I’m not at all surprised to know that so many serve in the department,” he said.

Hafemann said he tries to go into a new assignment without any preconceived notions, although he had some familiarity with Port Jervis and suspected that it would have some of the “specialness” he had grown up with and experienced in his Dutchess County community and parishes.

“I’ve happily been proven correct!” he said.

In his life’s work and service to the church, Father Hafemann referred to himself as “a lifer.”

“I’d been in the seminary since age 13 (high school, college and major sem.), with the final five years at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. I was ordained a priest in May 1999,” he said.

After his ordination, Hafemann served at Holy Trinity in Poughkeepsie until July of 2003 and then at St. Joseph’s in Croton Falls from 2003 until moving to Port Jervis in 2007. In addition to being pastor of St. Mary’s, he is also administrator of Port Jervis’ Most Sacred Heart Church, overseeing the buildings, property, and records of the currently closed parish.

Hafemann said the decision to move to Port Jervis came as a result of a request by Cardinal Egan. He hopes to stay for awhile, but says the location of his service is always up to the Lord and the archbishop.

No matter how long he might stay, Hafemann says he is happy to say that the city is blessed with a fine group of clergy with whom he has been meeting and working with regularly, and he is still assessing what his role in the community might become.

“Wise old pastors always say that you should take the first year to see ‘what’s what and who’s who,’ so I’m trying to observe and assess before making any grand plans,” he said.

“In any event, my goal is simply to serve the people well, to bring them closer to the Lord and make them ever more aware of His love for them.”