Manuel DelValle October 12, 2001 Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reserved. Manuel DelValle DelVALLE-Manuel. He was a firefighter with FDNY Engine Company #5. He is among the missing in the collapse of the WTC. He and his company were among the first to enter the north tower after the terrorist attack. Apparently, he was separated from the rest of his company as he tried to save another's life. Manny was born in on May 25th, 1969 to Gricel Zayas and Manuel DelValle, Sr. Growing up in the Bronx, he attended P.S. 103 and P.S. 141 elementary and junior high schools. He played schoolyard stickball and little league baseball, ran cross country, roller bladed on Saturday nights, was a rap and mime aficionado and worked hard on a newspaper route and as a deli stockboy. In 1984 Manny moved with his mother Gricel, sister Grace, brother Peter & stepfather Peter Moyer to Brookline, Mass. He graduated from Brookline High in 1988. In high school he participated in football, basketball, wrestling and track. Manuel went on to the University of Maryland from which he graduated in 1992. Friends from Brookline and Maryland remember him for his wonderful smile, good looks, sense of humor and loyalty. Since 1994 Manuel has been a firefighter with FDNY Engine Co #5 in Manhatten's Lower East Side. Working toward becoming a lieutenant, he was a fiercely proud and heroic fireman. He loved his fellow firefighters. He loved firehouse banter. He relished practical jokes. He liked to listen and learn. He also liked to challenge; to get others to think and change. He had high expectations of himself and others. The only Puerto Rican in his firehouse, he was an ambassador for his heritage. In his honor, his company drove their fire truck in the Puerto Rican day parade. Friends and family were very important to Manny. He was very close to his older sister Grace, an emergency department nurse at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. The two visited each other frequently and and shared their struggles and aspirations. She describes him, ``I have always felt my brother has a deeply generous and gentle spirit. I have always known he was a hero. ``Manny was a role model and mentor for his younger brothers Robert and Peter. He encouraged, coached, and championed Peter in his baseball at Northeastern University. At the wedding of his cousin Marisol Torres in Puerto Rico this summer he was surrounded by family and friends, young and old, with whom he danced and joked. With his step father and Boston cousins and uncles he took yearly ski trips out West where he was known for his story telling and delight in skiing moguls. During this last month family and friends have left no stone unturned in their effort to locate Manuel. Manuel was an excellent cook and Latin dancer. Manuel's dedication to his community was a continuation of his parents' commitment to community service. His father, Manuel Delvalle, Sr is a retired NYPD police officer. His mother, Gricel Zayas-Moyer, is a nurse in the Pulmonary Clinic at Boston Medical Center. His step father is an emergency physician at Boston Medical Center and Medical Director of Boston's public safety agencies: Fire, Police and EMS.

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