Denis Confer

BY GREG GOLDFARB CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It seems to Denis Confer that there are some people in life who really do go above and beyond the call of duty. But he’s hesitant to throw around the term “hero” loosely.

“There are very few I’d say fall into this category and unfortunately they are no longer with us,” Confer said. “Yet, they were driven by a higher mission and only they knew what drove them to do what they did.”

Born in Kane, Pennsylvania, and raised in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, Denis, 70, lives with his wife, Cindy, in Suffolk’s Olde Mill Creek/Wilroy/Magnolia section. They have two sons, Brian, and Aaron, who has passed.

A retired U.S Navy master chief petty officer with 22-plus years of service, Confer is also a retired banker and telephony/technology manager. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in business management and a master’s in information systems, both from Golden Gate University. Honorably discharged in 1994 as an E9, he was stationed mostly at Naval Station Norfolk.

People serve in the military for their own personal reasons, Confer said, and how their military service and life ultimately turn out in the end could all just be a matter of fate.

Confer said there are individuals who can and do something others who can’t or won’t. A hero is one with courage “beyond expectation without being asked or ordered to do.”

He doesn’t consider himself a hero. This honor goes to those “who are born with an intrinsic trait which enables them to do something over and above what normally most individuals wouldn’t or couldn’t perform or do.”

Confer said the world needs less of the “me” crowd and more of those who follow the advice of President John Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

He noted that less than 1% of the population make up those who decide to make military service their career. “Most do it out of a personal belief in our country and the Constitution that we swore an oath to support and defend,” Confer said.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Confer served 22 years, retiring as a Navy master chief petty officer, pictured here during boot camp.

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