2996 tribute to Gerard (Jerry) Nevins

Gerard T. Nevins

This is a tribute to Gerard Nevins, a Rescue FDNY Fire Fighter and a Catholic man who died on Sept. 11, 2001 in one of the World Trade Center buildings. He was 46 years old. This tribute is part of the 2996 project to honor every Person who died due to the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Gerard Nevins, called Jerry by his friends and family, was an outstanding and highly decorated fire fighter, he had just recently won the Firemen of the year award and was part of the elite Rescue 1 team. As Jerry would say to those who asked, "Firemen rescue people, Rescue Firemen rescue Firemen".

He was married to Marie for 20 years and father to Daniel and Andrew, who were 7 years old and 5 years old at the time of his death. He was a wonderful husband and father who lived in the country, Campbell Hall, NY, with his family. He owned a small farm in the back of this country house and raised pigs, goats and chickens and sold fresh eggs. He was also a great Godfather to Eddie and enjoyed spending time with his extended family.

He was fun-loving and had a mischievous humor that attracted people to him. He had many friends as was evident at the packed church for his memorial at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Washingtonville on Oct. 6, 2001. Nearly 1000 people attended the service.

He was one of 5 firemen who were killed that 9/11 day from the Washingtonville area and there is a monument to the Washingtonville 5 in the middle of town. He had always wanted to be a firemen and especially wanted to work for the NYC fire department just like his hero and dad, Patrick Nevins, did for many years. Patrick Nevins also died early in life at age 43. He worked hard and was always learning about firefighting and that led to his reaching the elite Rescue 1 team. He always thought of helping first as a firefighter, in fact, he was off-duty waiting for his replacement when the alarms went off for the WTC attacks and he went to do his duty as a FDNY firemen.

So I pay tribute to a true American Hero, Jerry Nevins. Pray for us in heaven, Jerry, that we may be courageous as you and do the right things for our family, our friends and our country.

Here are the links I used to find information on Jerry Nevins:

Fallen Brothers Community

The Times Herald-Record article about his service

Proud to be an American

Legacy.com remembrance


Check out more tributes at the 2996 website by clickin here