Tony Jimenez’s older brother, Phil, still remembers a moment that defined who his brother was long before Glen Cove came to know him.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Phil recalled of a childhood encounter when a group of kids tried to take their bicycles. “I was ready to give them the bicycles. My brother — no, these are ours. You’re not taking them. And he just stood up strong … he just knew what to do, instinct.”
Anthony “Tony” Pasquale Jimenez, a decorated Vietnam veteran, a longtime Glen Cove public servant and a fixture in the community, died last Sunday, at age 74.
Born on July 12, 1951, Jimenez was raised in Lower Manhattan’s Alphabet City, growing up in the projects with his siblings. “It was a 14-story building,” Phil said, recalling their early years, before the family moved to Levittown in search of a safer life. “We lived on the seventh floor.”
Even as a child, those close to him said, Jimenez had a quiet confidence, and an instinct to protect others. “He helped so many people and did so much without fan are,” his brother said.
After graduating from high school, Jimenez joined the U.S. Army in 1969, served as an infantryman in Vietnam and eventually became a sergeant. Like many veterans, he rarely spoke about his experiences. “It wasn’t until these last four or five years … that he really started talking about the Vietnam days,” Phil said.
When he came home in March 1971, his family celebrated in a way that reflected how deeply he was missed. “We didn’t have our Christmas until then,” Phil said. “Mom said, ‘No, we’re not having Christmas without him.’ We kept the tree up … and then in March, we had that Christmas.”
Jimenez moved to Glen Cove in 1980, where he built a life centered on service. He worked as a surgical technician for 26 years, and became a City court officer in 1988. He joined the Glen Cove Fire Department as an emergency medical technician in 1994, assisted in the delivery of seven children over the years, and went on to serve as EMS chief.
Jimenez served on the City Council from 2000 to 2014, and returned to the council role after the death of Councilman Nick DiLeo in 2014 Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton said their relationship grew from one of political partners to close friends.
“When I ran for City Council, we ran together and we became very, very close,” she said.
DeRiggi-Whitton recalled how Jimenez’s openness about living with Type 1 diabetes changed her perspective as a parent. “He casually told me he had Type 1 diabetes … I was so amazed he was able to accomplish so much having that,” she said.
Jimenez was deeply involved in community efforts — from food distribution with NOSH to environmental cleanups and veterans advocacy. “Whatever it was, he was always part of it,” DeRiggi-Whitton said.
Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck described him as “such an honorable man … such a patriot,” adding that “he genuinely and truly cared about everyone else more than himself.”
Jimenez’s dedication to veterans remained a defining part of his life. He served as the city’s director of veterans affairs and was active in the American Legion, where he spent decades supporting fellow service members.
David Hubbard, of the American Legion, said that Jimenez’s leadership helped unify the organization. “Tony kept everyone glued together,” he said.
Chad Ryals, a former U.S. Army Ranger and VFW Post 347’s acting chaplain, said that Jimenez helped him adjust after he moved to New York. “He was always there when I needed him, no matter what time I called him,” Ryals said. “He always knew what to say, knew what to do.”
Ryals added that Jimenez’s support extended to his family. “He helped my wife … cope with me and my PTSD,” he said, describing Jimenez as “the biggest, kindest-hearted person that anyone could know.”
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, Jimenez took the ferry from Glen Cove to Lower Manhattan and worked for weeks at ground zero. According to his brother, he joined others “with just bare hands … trying to find anybody, anything at that point,” and later working daily in the recovery effort.
Those experiences, along with his military service, left lasting physical and emotional impacts. Jimenez’s daughter, Nina, said he faced numerous health challenges in later years.
“He had multiple different health issues from diabetes pulmonary edemas and then he also suffered from Agent Orange,” Nina said.
Despite those challenges, she said, he remained deeply committed to helping others. “He just wanted to give everyone the best that they could have,” Nina said, noting his involvement with community organizations and veterans’ causes.
She described a different side of her father at home, that not everyone saw. “He was very silly and funny, but he would never really show that to a lot of people,” she said.
For Phil, that balance defined his brother’s life. “He was never [that] guy out there but he was the warmest guy in the world,” Phil said. “Quite a combination.”
In addition to his brother and daughter, Jimenez is survived by his wife, Katherine; a son, Christopher; and a grandson, Kurt.
In his decades of service — from Vietnam to Glen Cove City Hall, from emergency response to quiet acts of kindness — those who knew him said Jimenez consistently showed up when it mattered most.
“I’ve looked up to him all through my life,” Phil said. “He was my hero.”
