Robert Fazio Jr.
Police Officer,
NYPD
At 41, Robert Fazio Jr. was still single. People would
ask him when he was going to marry. But the pressure of
society's conventions, said his sister, Carole Lovero,
could not affect his decisions.
"He was a happy person, he was happy within himself,"
she said. "He would have gotten married if he had found
the right person, but he was happy doing what he was
doing."
What he was doing, outside of his job as a patrolman
for the New York Police Department, was working on
motorcycles, cars, boats and houses for anybody who
needed a hand. "Half my neighbors, he fixed their cars,"
said Officer Fazio's father, Robert Sr. Shortly after he
got his driver's license, Robert Fazio Jr. could be seen
on the weekend in front of the family's house in South
Hempstead, on Long Island, hoisting engines in and out of
cars with the help of a sturdy tree limb.
He had worked for the Police Department for 17 years
and was called from his precinct in the East 20's on
Sept. 11 to help people out of the shopping plaza beneath
the World Trade Center. He had less than three years to
go until retirement, his father said, and planned on
setting up a motorcycle and car repair shop somewhere
near his home in Freeport, N.Y., with a friend from
junior high school, Gino Lanza. But though he had no
children of his own, he spent as much time as he could
baby-sitting for his nephew, Michael Lovero, and friends'
children, who nicknamed him the Tickle Monster
- The New York Times 3/24/2002
Robert Fazio loved two things, his job and fast
machines.
"He loved cars and motorcycles ... fixing them and
having them," said Carol Lovero, his sister.
It was his love for them- he owned a pickup truck and
a Harley-Davidson bike -- and his helpful disposition --
that others knew the 41-year-old New York City police
officer for, his sister said.
It was not unusual for him to change the brakes on a
neighbor's car or to help someone stuck on the side of
the road because their car broke down. "He would always
go out of his way to help others," she said. "I can't
count the times he helped me out. But never asked for
help back."
A 17-year police veteran, Fazio was the community
officer at the 13th Precinct on East 21st Street, where
he spent the majority of his career. He grew up in South
Hempstead and graduated from South Side High School in
Rockville Centre in 1978. Recently, he lived near the
water in Freeport, where he could be close to his other
passion -- boating.
Fazio was on his regular tour with another 13th
Precinct officer, Moira Smith, when they spotted the
first plane hitting the towers. Smith called in the
information, and then she and Fazio headed back to the
nearby precinct to interview witnesses. Within the hour,
they were at the site of the World Trade Center, where
the two officers were last seen before the buildings
collapsed.
- New York Newsday Victim Database
9/27/2001
Police Officer Robert Fazio, 41, was appointed to the
NYPD on July 16 1984, and began his career on patrol in
Neighborhood Stabilization Unit 18. Prior to becoming a
police officer, he worked as an auto mechanic and an
electrician. Besides the 13 Precinct, he also worked in
Patrol Borough Manhattan South, the Technical Assistance
Response Unit(TARU), and the Property Clerk Division. At
the time of his death he was enrolled at St. Joseph's
College, where he was taking classes related to law
enforcement. He also loved cars, boating, motorcycling
and fishing. PO Fazio is survied by his parents Felicia
and Robert; sister Carole; brother-in-law Marc; and
nephews Joseph and Michael.
- SPRING 3100, Commemorative
Issue
.
