Joe McKie was born on March 19, 1962, in Queens, New York. He is the second of three children of Joe and Ann McKie. He went on to attend Queens College, where he played baseball and earned a bachelor’s degree before joining the fire department at age 26.

Joe served in the FDNY for 30 years from 1988 to 2018, mostly in Brooklyn. He began his career at Tillary Street in Ladder Company 110. He was promoted to battalion chief, and he spent the end of his career in Battalion 41 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He often called being a firefighter “the greatest job in the world” and was fond of saying that he had “never worked a day in his life.”

One of the things that made his job so special to him was the amount of time it afforded him to spend with his family. Outside of the fire department, he was a devoted father, husband, and member of his community. Joe and his wife, Eileen, raised four children, Joseph, Christopher, Emily, and Grace, in Floral Park, Long Island. As a family, they love to travel, and Joe would start every road trip by saying, “Let’s go make some memories.” He spent his life trying to teach his kids lessons, and they remember him each time they put one to use. A lifelong athlete, he volunteered countless hours to coach his children’s sports teams. His passion and generosity made him a beloved coach, and he is remembered by so many in Floral Park as a role model and teacher.