Officer's Death Sparks Memories For NYPD Widow: 'I Lost My Breath'
CALVERTON, NY — When news broke Tuesday that NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller had been shot and killed while making a traffic stop in Far Rockaway Monday night, for one East End family, time stopped.
Suddenly, it was though the five years and one month — the eternity of hours and minutes and seconds —had never passed since NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen, who lived in Calverton, was killed in 2019 during a robbery at a T-Mobile store in Queens.
The similarities left the heart of Simonsen’s widow Leanne filled with grief.
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Diller was also from Long Island; he and his wife Stephanie and their baby boy lived in Massapequa Park.
Both were killed in Queens. And both were young, their whole lives ahead, memories still to be made. Diller was 31; Simonsen, 42.
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Speaking with Patch Tuesday, Leanne Simonsen said the news opened the floodgates of grief, always, forever, just a heartbeat away.
“This one really hit me hard,” Leanne said. “The minute I heard a cop was shot, I literally lost my breath. And then when I heard it was fatal, I instantly went back five years. And it was even in Queens; he was at Jamaica Hospital.”
Leanne described the rush of emotions. “I was heartbroken for the family, but also, I was heartbroken all over again with thoughts of Brian.”
She was filled with so many emotions — “sad, angry, anxious. It’s just all so awful.”
Reflecting on the days to come for Diller’s wife and all who loved him, Leanne said: “This poor family has a long journey of healing ahead — and I’m so sad for his little boy. I just hate that this happened to them.”
If she could speak to Diller’s wife and offer words of support and solace, Leanne said in navigating the future: “There is really no right or wrong way to feel. The pain you have now will never get better, per se, but it definitely gets different. You just learn to cope better.”
During her own journey, Leanne said Terri Irwin, Steve Irwin’s widow, wrote her a message that served as a beacon of strength. Irwin had been in New York City the night that Simonsen was killed, and left a copy of her book at the police station, with an inscription that said: “‘The sun may not shine as bright as it used to, but it will shine again.’ And it is definitely true. I’m seeing brighter days now – and I’m finding joy again.”
Leanne added, to Stephanie Diller: “Keep faith and hope in your heart. My belief that I will see Brian again is what keeps me going every day. I truly believe we will be reunited.”
In the years since his death, Leanne has worked tirelessly to keep her husband’s legacy and heart alive through the Detective Brian “Smiles” Simonsen Foundation, created to do good work in his name.
Simonsen, called “Smiles” by the many who loved him, was a 19-year NYPD veteran. His death left the community cloaked in grief — frigid cold did nothing to deter the thousands who converged upon Hampton Bays to pay their respects on the somber February morning. They began arriving in the early morning hours — a steady stream of police vehicles, lights flashing, lined all roadways leading into Hampton Bays from all directions and packed the roadways even hours after as the funeral procession brought Simonsen to his final resting place at the Jamesport cemetery.
Diller’s funeral Mass will be held on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Massapequa. Visitations are scheduled for Thursday and Friday at the Massapequa Funeral Home, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Diller will be laid to rest at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.
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