A New Papa, United Pilot Often Helped Others

By Emi Endo | STAFF WRITER

September 13, 2001

LeRoy Wilton Homer Jr., 36, a commercial airline pilot who went to high school in West Islip, was celebrating the birth of his daughter and looking forward to her first airplane trip last winter.

In a Christmas letter he and his wife, Melodie, sent to family and friends last year, the couple announced the birth of Laurel Nicole Homer on Oct. 25.

His wife wrote, "Although LeRoy kept telling me he was going to pass out in the delivery room, he was an excellent coach."

Homer, of Marlton, N.J., was listed as the first officer on United Airlines Flight 93, the San Francisco-bound plane from Newark that crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

Thomas Dockery, 36, of Dix Hills, who was good friends with Homer throughout high school, yesterday called Homer "one of the nicest guys you could ever meet." Dockery described him as smart, friendly and outgoing. He said Homer played on the football team in high school.

"He always wanted to be a pilot," he said. "He always talked about flying a plane when we were younger."

Dockery's mother, Anne Dockery of Deer Park, said yesterday, "I turned on the television, and at the bottom of the television they were showing the pilots. I saw LeRoy Homer come across the screen and just screamed." Her son's friend, she said, was "just the perfect son."

There were reports yesterday that the crew aboard Flight 93 may have crashed the hijacked jetliner before it could hit its intended target. Thomas Dockery said that if Homer participated in the effort, "That's a hero. He gave up his life so other people wouldn't get killed."

He added, "He would always do that, he would always go out of the way to help people." Dockery recalled the time they were going to the movies and drove by somebody with a flat tire. "He pulled over so he could help people," he said.

Homer graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., as a captain in 1987, an academy spokeswoman said. After that, he went on to be a liaison recruiter for admissions, working with high school students interested in attending the academy. He was promoted to major in 1999.

He and Melodie were married on May 24, 1998, taking their honeymoon in the South Pacific.

Homer flew 757 and 767 jetliners out of Kennedy Airport, making trips to South America, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Delhi.

The couple enjoyed traveling, taking a Caribbean cruise with Melodie's family in February 1999; celebrating their first anniversary in Southern California and Las Vegas, and visiting Athens and the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini.

In the couple's most recent holiday letter, Melodie Homer mentioned a summer getaway last year to London with her parents - with Homer in the cockpit. She wrote, "This was a big thrill for them to have their son-in-law fly the plane."

Joking that they missed being able to sleep in because of their newborn, they wrote, "We are looking forward to 2001, and hopefully more sleep in the upcoming months. We wish you all the best for the New Year. Love, Melodie & LeRoy."