Mcgraw, Dennis R.

ALBANY — Dennis R. Mcgraw, 60, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, October 9, 2021.

Born in Albany, he was the beloved son of Marcia Bendon Mcgraw and the late Daniel R. Mcgraw. Dennis graduated from St. James Grammar School, Christian Brothers Academy, H.V.C.C. and SUNY Empire State College. He retired from the Albany Police Department in 2013 and from the United States Coast Guard in 2016.

Dennis loved the Coast Guard and was very proud of his service. He had a successful and adventurous career with deployments in Cape Cod, the North Atlantic, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe. He took part in many rescues at sea and received numerous awards and recognitions. Dennis particularly enjoyed his deployments as a crew member on the USCGC Barque Eagle, "America’s Tall Ship" where he taught practical seamanship and navigation skills to Coast Guard Academy cadets and officer candidates. Dennis was also deployed to the New York City Harbor on a patrol boat immediately following the World Trade Center attack on 9/11, and later to Louisiana following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He retired with the rank of chief petty officer.

Dennis had a lifelong love of the ocean. As an Albany police officer, Dennis at one point skippered the department’s patrol boat on the Hudson River. In his free time, he skippered the Dutch Apple moored in Albany. Later in his retirement years, he was a captain of the "Amazing Grace" in the Newport, Rhode Island Harbor. He was a licensed Merchant Marine captain and enjoyed teaching basic boating skills and water safety classes. Dennis also enjoyed traveling, cooking, history,