Officer J.D. Levi

PAPD

Officer Levi's Act of Heroism

Over 400 first responders lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Heroically performing their sworn duty, these firefighters, members of the NYPD and PAPD, and numerous other rescue workers will forever be remembered for their sacrifice.

My Hero

Debralee Scott walked into the Greenwich Village bar Hogs & Heifers on Dec. 15, 1995, and there he was, a cop who rode a Harley. The rugged, tattooed man who wore a cowboy hat asked her to dinner. "It was love at first sight," said Ms. Scott, an actress.

Five years later, on a cross-country trip, John Dennis Levi, a police officer with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, proposed to her in a hotel room in Winslow, Ariz., the town mentioned in an Eagles song. It was to be a March wedding.

But he took the call for overtime at 6 a.m. on Sept. 11, because he liked to be with her on the weekends. He called her when the first plane hit. He called again from the basement of the World Trade Center, as he searched for evidence.

He was thoughtful like that. He even made a beauty parlor for his mother, Joanne Priavity, below her Brooklyn home. He loved his children, Dennis, 23, and Jennifer, 26. "He'd like a lot of bikes at his funeral," said Michelle Dell, the Hogs & Heifers owner. "He'd really like that."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 26, 2001.
Information courtesy of the Remember 9/11/2001 memorial site on legacy.com