The 2011 Distant Memories Swim is in Memory and Honor of

Harold Charles Daly
1933 - 2003

In the spring of 1956, a friend of Hal’s at the Queens YMCA told him about a lifeguard job at Jones Beach State Park.  Although his interests at the “Y” were mainly performing gymnastics, juggling and four-man balancing acts, Hal practiced in the pool and started that year as a Jones Beach Lifeguard. And for the next 40 years Hal protected swimmers at the beaches and pools in the Long Island State Park system while also entertaining them. In between his “sits”, crowds would gather around him on the sand while he broke out his best YMCA schtick.  And it so happened this led to a personal job offer from Guy Lombardo to jump from the 90-foot towers during the “South Pacific” evening shows at the Jones Beach Theater. Later, Hal would reveal: “That’s how I got the down payment for our house in Lake Ronkonkoma!”

Settling in his new house with his wife, Odette and his family of five children, Hal took up flying and went on to become a commercial pilot with an instrument rating and a certified flight instructor. His reputation for flight safety earned him an invitation and membership into the FAA Safety Council. Hal also stayed on with the U.S. Navy as a Medical Corpsman Reservist and continued his U.S. Postal Service job until his retirement in 1991. Family and friends would laugh to hear him talk about retirement from the Post Office and “getting an early out” with the Navy Reserves, but they never heard him talk about retiring from the JB Lifeguard Corps. Thoughts of the summer job he loved so much pushed him to work out through the winters and kept him physically fit his whole life. He always remarked at how lucky we were to have the best beaches in “our backyard”, and even luckier to get paid to be on them! One of the greatest benefits this job had was to have his family around him while he was working.  All of his children grew up every summer with him teaching them how to body surf, spring board dive, and swim until the sun set. He was a “lifer”, as they say down at the beach, – a befitting moniker for their kind. The beach gave him life in so many ways – some more directly than others. Hal’s last lifeguard post was at Hither Hills State Park in Montauk in 1995.

Hal’s juggling and balancing acts never left him. He loved to entertain – especially kids. His impromptu acts at family gatherings or on the beach would always end with him teaching a youngster how it’s done. At parties, he would balance anything he could lift on his chin, nose or forehead, “… the heavy items are easiest, it’s the light ones that are difficult” he would say. Ironically, his toughest challenge came from a Post Office co-worker who tossed him an envelope saying:  “OK, Hal, see if you can balance this!” He was amazed at how difficult it was – but he did it. He was always looking for a new trick to master. Once, he performed a basketball trick that was aired on Americas Funniest Home Videos and parlayed the act to Late Night with David Letterman where he and Odette chatted with Letterman backstage. He was one act away from performing, but there just wasn't enough time.

Enough time….a precious gift his family saw fade rapidly as the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease began to appear. Summers along the beaches of Long Island came to end. Hal certainly deserved more time.