Recognizing the Honorable Steven ``steve'' Dargan, West Haven's 2025 Irish Person of the Year

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to join the West Haven St. Patrick's Day Committee as well as city and community leaders as they gather to honor our dear friend, Steven ``Steve'' Dargan, as West Haven's 2025 Irish Person of the Year. This special award is bestowed annually on a West Haven resident or couple of Irish descent who personifies service in the city's close-knit Irish community.

Steve hails from an ancestry whose legacy is woven into the tapestry of the American story. Like so many of us, his family's story is one of emigration--of leaving the only home you know to search out a better life for yourselves and family. In the mid-1800s, Steve's paternal great-grandparents, Pierce and Ellen Dargan, emigrated from Ireland to the United States and settled in New Haven. His maternal grandparents, John Glacken and the former Margaret McGowan, who left County Donegal and Derry, Northern Island respectively, for America at different times in the early 1900s. They met and married, first settling in Norwich before making West Haven their home.

Steve was born in New Haven in 1955 to Margaret and Robert Dargan, Jr. He and his siblings--Robert Dargan, III, Timothy Dargan and Mary Margaret Dargan--were raised by their hardworking parents in a traditional Irish Catholic household on Richards Place in the center of West Haven. Steve attended public schools and graduated in 1973 from West Haven High School, where he ran track. He also attended Quinnipiac College. It was through his parents that Steve learned the importance of giving back to his community and he took those lessons to heart, dedicating most of his adult life to public service. In fact, his late father, Robert, was honored with this same award in 2012, making them the only father/son recipients its 32-year history.

Steve has represented his community as an appointed or elected leader since he was 21 years old. He served on the City Council from 1985 to 1991 and the First Fire Taxation District's Board of Fire Commissioners from 1980 to 2004. As a member of the Connecticut House, Steve represented West Haven's 115th District from 1991 to 2017. For 20 years, he was a co-chair of the General Assembly's Public Safety and Security Committee, which oversees all matters related to civil preparedness, state and municipal police, and the overall safety of residents. He also served on the Gaming Policy Task Force, the Police Pursuit Task Force and the Private Security Personnel Task Force as well as on the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee and the Insurance and Real Estate Committee. In January 2017, Steve resigned to serve on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, a seat which he still holds.

In addition to his civil service, Steve has dedicated much of his time and energy to a myriad of local organizations. He is a former volunteer for West Haven Hook and Ladder Company 1, a longtime member of the West Haven Irish American Club, a lifetime member of West Haven's Elks Lodge 1537, and a former member of the Knights of St. Patrick in New Haven, Connecticut's oldest continuously run Irish society.

I would be remiss if I did not also take this opportunity to extend a personal note of thanks to Steve for his many years of friendship and support. Steve has always been known for his gregarious nature, ready smile, and big heart. Elected to our respective seats, myself to Congress and Steve to the General Assembly, in the same year, we have developed a special kinship, rooted in our passion for service and desire to make a difference in the lives of others. I am so proud to stand today to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Steve Dargan on this very special occasion. Steve has dedicated a lifetime of service to the community he calls home, and I cannot think of a more fitting accolade to recognize his dedication and commitment.

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