Terrence "Terry" Joseph McCormick

Terrence “Terry” J. McCormick was born in New York City to a young Irish Catholic girl who baptized him and gave up for adoption through a Catholic agency. He was immediately adopted by Virgil and Matthew McCormick and resided in Denver Colorado until moving back to his mother’s family in Nebraska. He graduated from Creighton Prep school before briefly attending Creighton University, whom he later received an honorary degree from. He attempted to join the military but was unable due to a heart condition resulting from having had a rheumatic fever when he was younger. In 1962 he joined the Omaha Police Department, where he worked until 1966 before being recruited as a Deputy with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. He worked patrol, the Jail, and was a Field Training Officer before being promoted to the rank of Sergeant. After a few years there he was recruited by the U.S. Border Patrol and became an Agent with them in April of 1970. He was stationed on the Mexican Border in Nogales Arizona until 1974, when he transferred to U.S. Customs as a Patrol Officer and was sent to the Canadian border in Minnesota. While with Customs he was promoted to a patrol Supervisor and was sent to several locations on narcotics and human smuggling deployments, including one he received a commendation for in Miami from the Department of the Treasury. Then in 1982 he was transferred to Jacksonville Florida in response to the Mariel Cuban boatlift. There he helped to start the first Customs Marine Unit in North Florida, where he captained boats, to include almost sinking one of their high-performance cigarette boats when the hull split in rough seas off-shore. While in Jacksonville he was promoted to Special Agent until his mandatory retirement in December of 1994 with 25 years of service. He was the Firearms Instructor for their office and participated in several different operations with them, to include being part of the security team for the Carlos Leder Federal trial. After a brief stint in the private sector and a short attempt at retirement, he was hired as the first non-JSO retired Sworn Bailiff in December of 1996, well before the Judicial Officer position was created. He worked as a Bailiff until a medical condition forced him to retire in May of 2012. During his tenure as a Bailiff, he worked for several Judges and helped run Traffic Court.

Terry met Susanna “Sanna” J. McKenna, on a blind date set up by one of her fellow nurses in 1965. They were married July 23, 1966 and had their first son, Brian in 1967, followed by Shawn (JSO) in 1969. After tragically losing Brian to a Brain tumor in 1972, they went 9 years before having Meghann in 1978 and Douglas (JSO) in 1981. Terry lost Sanna to cancer March 6 of 1993 and never remarried. In 2019 he did get to discover and speak by phone (COVID prevented in-person meetings) with his half sisters after a DNA match. After retirement in 2012, Terry enjoyed his children and 9 grandchildren, dogs, reading and building models. In retirement Terry was unable to suppress the need to help protect people and provided security for his church and their weekly events. Terry’s love of his family and zest for law enforcement are shadowed only by his strong unwavering faith and love for God. To say he was active in his Faith would be an understatement. He was a life-long devout Catholic, a member in the Knights of Columbus, an active participant in parish enrichment programs and active member of San Jose Catholic Church for almost 45 years. While at San Jose, he always looked out for and held a special place in my heart for the San Jose Nuns.

Terry is survived by his children, Shawn (Rebecca), Meghann (Matt), Doug (Jaime), and grandchildren (Grace, McKenna, Riley, Luke, Chase, AnnaBella, Lily, Jonathan, and Fionn)

The family of Terrence McCormick would like to share the following funeral arrangements

A visitation and viewing will be held at Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Chapel, Wednesday, April 9th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, with a Rosary starting at 7:00 pm with Father Rudolpho. A Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held April 10th at 11:00 am with Father Rudolfo and Father Remek at San Jose Catholic Church, 3619 Toledo Road Jacksonville, FL 32217. Immediately following mass will be the procession and honor guard salute at the bell tower at Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn.

Burial of Ashes will take place in Storm Lake, Iowa in St Mary’s Cemetery next to his wife Sanna and son Brian at a time to be determined.