Matthew Toth | Lebanon Daily News | January 30, 2024
Federal legislators have taken the first steps to rename the Lebanon City Post Office in honor of of Lt. William Lebo.
On Monday, The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 3865, a bill that would rename the 101 South 8th St. post office as the “Lieutenant William D. Lebo Post Office Building.”
Lebo was shot and killed in the line of duty March 31, 2022.
Congressman Dan Meuser, who introduced the bill, said it was his hope that the renaming of this post office in Lebo’s honor “will further serve as a lasting recognition of his life (and) legacy.”
“Lt. Lebo was a dedicated public servant, who is remembered by his colleagues and those he served as a calm and ethical police officer who was deeply devoted to protecting the Lebanon community,” he said on the House floor Monday.
The legislation was co-sponsored by the commonwealth’s entire House delegation.
Those in attendance for Monday’s vote included Lebo’s wife, Lora, and mother, Rina, Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello and Police Chief Bret Fisher.
Watching the bill getting passed and seeing the tears Lebo’s wife had as the House honored her husband is a moment in time Fisher said he will never forget.
“Lt. Lebo, when he was here at the police department, was impactful,” he said to the Lebanon Daily News. “He touched a lot of officers’ careers, and I believe he was looking down on all of us yesterday and probably thought it was quite a tribute.”
In 2022, Lebo, Officer Derek Underkoffler, Officer Ryan Adams, and Officer Kris McCarrick were responding to a domestic disturbance report. Lebo died in a shootout with a man who had broken into a home on the 1100 block of Forest Street.
Lebo had more than 40 years of service and was 30 days from retirement.
Lora Lebo created the Lt. William D. Lebo Memorial Foundation to honor her husband’s memory. Over the last year the foundation’s contributions included providing $18,000 to the Lebanon City Police Department for a new K9 officer.
“Lt. Lebo was quite an officer with a 40-year career,” Fisher said. “How do you match that?”
U.S. Senator Bob Casey introduced a similar bill, S.B. 2758, in the Senate on Sept. 11, 2023.
To donate or volunteer for the William Lebo Memorial Foundation, visit the organization’s website at ltwdlebo.org.