Michael Robert Marcopulos - Obituary

ichael Robert Marcopulos Jr., age 79, passed away in his sleep December 4, 2020 due to myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease. He was born August 2, 1941 in Washington D.C. Michael is survived by his sister Jeanette L. O’Leary, nephew Kevin M. O’Leary, niece Terry Carson and her family, niece Tracy Donnelly and her family, and his Firefighters family at District Heights and Montgomery County. Predeceased by his beloved son Michael R. Marcopulos III and his loving parents Michael R. Marcopulos Sr. and Nellie L. Marcopulos. He has joined his family in heaven. Michael dearly loved and missed his son and is now reunited for all eternity. He was always friendly, calm, sweet and caring to his family. Michael was very brave and served his country by joining the Army as First Class Private from 1965 to 1969. He served as a Medic on the front lines in the Vietnam War and was honorably discharged. Michael loved the Fire Department and joined District Heights Volunteer Fire Department as a teenager where he grew up, and after serving several active years as a dedicated Volunteer, became a life member. He was appointed to the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service on March 1, 1966 and he served at the original Fire Station 22 that used to be on Bradley Boulevard at 495. Most of his career was spent at the Emergency Communications Center, promoting to Sergeant and then Lieutenant. Michael retired on October 1, 2003 with 37 years of service. Michael was known by his co-workers as a smooth, knowledgeable dispatcher and supervisor. He was called the “the chess master” because of his transfers of fill-in apparatus during busy times, when apparatus was assigned to major incidents – he just knew which apparatus to move around to ensure coverage. Michael knew almost every street in Montgomery, Prince Georges, and DC. His area - knowledge was unparalleled. He was from the era of telecommunicators that grew up where they worked and took the role of knowing where he was sending units seriously. His friend Battalion Chief Sam Villani says, “one of the biggest things he taught me was ‘when in doubt, send them out’, which meant send as many units as they may need for an incident, and if they requested the world to help, it was our job as telecommunicators to figure out how to get it there”. Michael was selfless beyond measure, and often helped younger firefighters make ends meet when they were short on pay and took time to counsel them on how to be a better human being. Family and Friends are invited to attend the burial service at the place of internment on Friday March 19, 2021 at 1 PM. Washington National Cemetery 4101 Suitland Road Hillcrest Heights, MD 2074 In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of Michael’s favorite charities: The Children’s Inn at NIH - https://childrensinn.org/get-innvolved/giving/ St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital - https://childrensinn.org/get-innvolved/giving/ DC Firefighters Burn Foundation - https://www.dcffburnfoundation.org/make-a-donation/