The widow of a Denver firefighter is trying to recover an estimated $70,000 in pension benefits lost due to a simple bureaucratic error 15 years ago.
“The whole process was poorly managed and poorly executed,” said Julie Drennan. Her husband, Charles Drennan Jr., a division chief with the Denver fire department, was shot and killed Sept. 13, 2001. He had gone to the home of a fellow firefighter to counsel the man through some difficult times. The other firefighter shot and killed Drennan then killed himself.
Drennan’s death was quickly ruled a line of duty death. Under federal law, that meant Julie Drennan and her 11-year-old son should have received her husband’s monthly pension benefits tax free.