Saturday, September 09, 2006

9/11 Tribute: Jeffrey Earle LeVeen


Jeffrey Earle LeVeen, killed at age 55 on September 11, 2001. This is what I started from: a name and a photo. Well, just a name first. And I wondered what else I could learn about him by searching the Web. Quite a bit, it turns out. This was a man who truly lived.

Jeff LeVeen, a partner and senior vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald, enjoyed his financial and career success, reporting for work at the WTC by 7:30 most mornings. He loved to play golf and had won many trophies in various tournaments. But most of all, he reveled in his roles as a husband, father, friend, brother, and colleague. He was full of life and love and shared those abundantly with others in his life. You can find some tributes here. (I hope. The link wasn't working when I tried it tonight.)

Here's a quote from my favorite article about this energetic man who thoroughly enjoyed life:

By day, Jeff LeVeen of Plandome, N.Y., was a chieftain in the financial world, a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, an Ivy Leaguer and the owner of two well-appointed homes and a golf handicap of 3. By night, he was a rock groupie who attended nearly a dozen Dave Matthews concerts a year.

His wife Christine called him "the most positive person I ever met." When the time came to find individual pictures of him for the memorial Mass at St. Mary's in Manhasset, Christine faced a difficulty that typified her husband's life: He was almost never photographed alone.


"All our photos showed him with his arm around the kids or they had their arms around him. He was never alone," she said. "That's the kind of man he was."

This beautiful couple had five children, Jeff Jr., Betsy, Andrew, Katie, and Meg, who were their father's proudest achievement.



Jeff LeVeen, it's a privilege to have met you. See you after the show.

13 comments:

Carmen said...

I'm going to have to read all these in one fell swoop, because each one moves me to tears. Thank you for honoring this man, and for sharing his life with us,

As you know, my tribute is live, too.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful tribute to a great man. I'm sure his friends and family are proud of the words you spoke for him.

Jen said...

This is a wonderful tribute! He sounds like the kind of guy that it would be fun to be around.

Thanks for stopping by and helping remember Anna Williams Allison.

Renee Nefe said...

So many wonderful lives lost. So many tears cried.

We'll never forget.

Shannon said...

"See you after the show"

Loved that! So true.

Thank you for the person you are. I love you sis!

Cathy said...

What a wonderful, happy face. On top of that smile he was a Dave Mathews fan. Yeah, he had to have been a good man. Thanks for sharing us with him.

Kate said...

Thank you for letting us get to know Mr. LeVeen, so that he can live forever in our memories.

I'm proud to have been a part of the 2996 blogging family with you.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this honoring tribute to a man who obviously loved his family and life.

I'm still catching up today...this project has moved me to get to know as many of those who died on 9/11 as possible.

My tribute is still up at www.homeschoolblogger.com/eyecorn

Undercover Angel said...

What a beautiful tribute! Such a tragedy and so many beautiful lives lost. Thank you for sharing his life with use

lochan said...

Thank you for this beautiful tribute. Reading these yesterday and today has been an emotional experience.

Thanks for stopping by to remember Thomas Patrick Farrelly.

Alicia said...

Sigh ...

Tribute to Christopher Paul Slattery

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

You gotta love a guy who loves Dave Matthews! Every one of these 2996 victims was a tragedy. Thank you for bringing a person to one of the numbers.

gordaboo said...

Oh wow...what a great guy! I loved that he was serious businessman by day and rocker by night!! Thank you for sharing a bit of Jeff's life so that he is more than just a name to us all.

We will never forget.

I remember Lisa Egan