El Paso County Commissioner Dan Haggerty has died

Dan Haggerty, who has served on Commissioners Court since 1995, died Friday night, according to County Commissioner Veronica Escobar.

Haggerty was diagnosed with bladder cancer in November 2011 and, at the time, said he was considering stepping down from his elected position. He stayed on but had to miss several meetings because of ongoing treatment since the diagnosis.

He lost his hair due to the chemotherapy and would wear wigs to Commissioners Court – sometimes even funky colored wigs – in support of others fighting their own cancer battles.

“I felt like I can handle this,” Haggerty said in mid-January 2012 after a four-hour Commissioners Court meeting. “I can put up with these knot heads just as easily as the people can.”

Using his normal humorous approach, Haggerty tackled even the toughest of questions about his health, like the poor prognosis he got in early January 2012 from his doctor in Houston.

“She said three, maybe five years, which is just long enough to finish off this term and (tick) everybody off down here at the courthouse,” Haggerty said in January 2012. “I obviously got an obligation to do what I have got to do to be a commissioner. (The chemotherapy) was starting to work on me there (during the meeting), you may have noticed, toward the end, listening to the county attorneys. If you’ve got two years to live it’s tough to imagine giving that much time to some of those issues.”

Haggerty had his cancerous prostate removed in 1999.

Haggerty Bio

EDUCATION/MILITARY – Graduate of Cathedral High School and attended U.T.E.P. – U.S. Army – U.S. Marine Corps – U.S. Naval Reserve – Texas Army National Guard – Vietnam War Veteran 1968-1972 CIVIC/WORK INVOLVEMENT
– Named Outstanding Northeast El Pasoan for the year 2008 – Appointed by Governor Rick Perry as trustee to the Texas County and District Retirement System since 2004. – Governance Team Member to Border Children’s Mental Health Collaborative since 2007. – Real Estate – Since 1972. – President of Century 21 Haggerty Co., Realtors – Director of El Paso Board of Realtors 1980-1982 – Commissioner of El Paso Charter Revision Committee 1983 – Trustee of El Paso Community College Board from May1990 – December 1994 – President of Cathedral High School Alumni 1988-1989 – President of El Paso Veteran’s Memorial 1988-1996 – Member of Transmountain Optimist – Member of American Legion – Member of Veteran’s of Foreign Wars – State Comptroller’s Appointment – TexPool Advisory Board – 2000 to 2006 – El Paso County Commissioner 1995-Present – Former board member: Radford School