Jerry DeVito - We Remember 9/11

Jerry DeVito, age 66

Place killed:

World

Trade

Center

. Resident of

New York

,

N.Y.

(

USA

)

He looks like he could be my father - he's everyone's father. He looks like someone I know personally, or through people I love and care about. I remember him.

Here is what has been said about him by people who were blessed to know him in person (from www.legacy.com):

'You Could Count on Him'

Among the potential dangers of hanging out with Jerry DeVito were that you would laugh a lot and find yourself blown away by his mastery of sports trivia. And one other thing: you might have gotten fat.

Mr. DeVito, 66, loved to take care of people around him, especially when it came to making sure that they were fed. He was the personal driver for David Alger, the chief executive of Fred Alger Management. When not behind the wheel, Mr. DeVito spent his days at the firm, spending time with traders and looking out for the welfare of interns, particularly making sure they knew there was leftover food from a conference or luncheon.

"He even used the interoffice mail system to send doughnuts to our New Jersey site," said Christopher W. Cheever, a former summer intern.

A native of the Bronx and a great baseball player in his younger days, Mr. DeVito was a die-hard Yankees fan, who used to joke with the Alger brothers that they should buy the Bronx Bombers and make him the team's general manager. A father of two, he planned to retire this year, though he would have missed being in the mix. "He just liked being around people," said his daughter, Robyn Goldstein. "No matter what age you were, young or old, you could count on him."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 19, 2001.

I never knew.

I never knew that when I was in the school's chapel at 9:30am for about 45 minutes, that a first plane, and then a second plane, hit Jerry's workplace.

I never knew a personal face to the tragedy I watched unfold on TV with my students.

I never knew as I walked through the school building spreading the word and looking for news that Jerry could not get out.

I never knew as I sat in shock at the people jumping and the towers falling that I would be introduced to a personal story, someone's brother, dad, son, uncle, everything.

I never knew as word came of more plans, more terror, that a family's reality was being absorbed by the focus of a nation and the world.

I never knew that as I began to heal, and adapt to a new normal, that every anniversary would reopen wounds for Jerry's family.

I never knew how unified 9/11 would make our nation, and how divided we became afterwards.

I never knew that I was missing out every 9/11 by never really remembering one person; one incredibly warm, funny, caring, outgoing, man who could be everyone's father or friend.

I know now.

I remember. We remember.

God Bless Jerry DeVito. God Bless America.

Thanks Jerry......