Background
He was born on December 28, 1882 to Irish immigrants.
He was born on December 28, 1882 to Irish immigrants.
He studied architecture at Cooper Union and at age 35 served in World War I as a staff officer in the 105th Field Artillery.
Deegan later joined the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a major, where he supervised the construction of military bases in the New York area under the command of General George West. Goethals. After the war he helped organize the American Legion in 1919, advancing to State Commander in 1921. Deegan worked as an architect at a number of distinguished firms, including McKim, Mead, and White.
Post, Magnicke and Franke.
And Starrett and Van Vieck. Later in life he held a number of political positions, most of them in the Bronx.
Deegan was President of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce until the chamber grew critical of Mayor Jimmy Walker, at which point he resigned. Deegan died following an appendectomy on April 3, 1932.
At the time of his death, a new road was being built from the Triborough Bridge to the Grand Concourse.
This was renamed and expanded in 1956 into the Major Deegan Expressway section of I-87 in the Bronx, which retains his name.