Captain Kathy Mazza

PAPD

Captain Mazza'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

She died while responding to the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center.

Letters

When Kathy Mazza threw her line into the water, fish couldn't resist.

At least, it always seemed that way. Ms. Mazza didn't get to fish as much as she would have liked in recent years, but she was known as the "family fisherperson" because of her chronic success.

When she was growing up and went fishing with her brothers, she was the one who came home loaded down with all the fish. "On our honeymoon, we went to Acapulco and we went deep-sea fishing," said her husband, Christopher Delosh. "No one got anything, except her. She hooked a sailfish. It took her 90 minutes to reel it in, but she did it."

Ms. Mazza, 46, lived in Farmingdale, N.Y., with Mr. Delosh. She was a police captain with the Port Authority, and the first female commander at its police training academy. Trained as a nurse, she taught emergency medical service at the academy, a fact not lost on her neighbors.

"Everyone in the neighborhood would come to the house when anything was wrong," Mr. Delosh said. "Like, a young man across the street hurt his hand and he was with his grandmother, who didn't know what to do. Another neighbor was having chest pains. It turned out she was having a heart attack."

Some years ago, Ms. Mazza saved her own mother's life. Her mother complained of chest pains, and Ms. Mazza recognized that her arteries were blocked.

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 14, 2001.
Information courtesy of the Remember 9/11/2001 memorial site on legacy.com