Late IUSB police officer, organ donor to be honored at Rose Parade on New Year's Day
SOUTH BEND — Melissa Pace remembers her husband, Levell Pace, as a loving and generous spirit.
"He was the most kind and caring individual you would ever meet,” she said of Levell, who passed away on Nov. 30, 2002. “He would step in front of a moving truck or that speeding bullet for anybody.”
Melissa recalled his sense of humor and his love for his family.
“He was the type of individual who would give you the last five dollars out of his wallet if you needed it, and he was always there to help friends and family.”
One way that Levell, who was an officer on the Indiana University South Bend Police Department, wanted to help people was by being an organ donor.
Levell was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease in 2002 and needed a kidney transplant. He was about to be placed on the national transplant waiting list when he suddenly lost his life.
His legacy lives on through those he helped as a tissue and cornea donor.
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Now, people around the country and world will learn about Levell ’s gift of life.
He will be among the organ donors — both living and dead — and organ recipients honored at the 2022 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. on New Year’s Day.
His portrait will be among those that will be included on a "Donate Life" Rose Parade float that will be in the parade procession on Jan. 1, according to Marti Cooper, the community outreach coordinator for the Indiana Donor Network.
Cooper supported Melissa in the days after her husband's organs were donated.
She said most people on the transplant waiting lists, both nationally and in Indiana, are waiting on kidneys. She said there several reasons for long waiting list for kidneys.
“There are more people with diabetes and more people with kidney disease and kidney failure," she said, "but with dialysis we also we have a good way to keeping people alive so they can stay on that waiting list longer.”
Cooper joined Melissa at IUSB this week for the unveiling of her late husband's portrait and for Melissa and other members of her family to put the finishing touches on the picture.
The float depicts the giant winged lion of Piazza San Marco standing between two structures that displays the portraits of Levell and other people who donated organs upon their deaths. Organ recipients will stand on the float just below the winged lion, while living donors will walk next to the float.
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One of the unique things about Tournament of Roses Parade floats is that only natural and organic materials are used, Cooper said. So, Levell’s portrait was made out of ground coffee beans and other natural spices and seeds. Melissa and other family members used those natural ingredients to paint the eyebrows on her husband’s portrait during Monday’s reception.
Levell’s portrait will be shipped back to Pasadena, and Melissa Pace will travel there in late December to work with other donor families to put finishing touches on the float and participate in other activities, Cooper said.
Cooper said Melissa wanted to have the event at IUSB because of the significant role that campus played in both of their lives.
“They both worked here and Melissa still works here,” Cooper said. “They had their wedding reception here.”
Melissa said she was a full-time student and had a work-study job, and Levell worked as a security officer when they met.
“We actually met through another staff member who thought that we would get along real well,” she recalled.
Melissa noted that her husband’s life was about serving the community. That is why he became a police officer and it also explained why he felt that as a Black man it was important for him to be an organ donor.
Email South Bend Tribune reporter Howard Dukes at hdukes@gannett.com
Follow him on Twitter: @DukesHoward
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana University, South Bend police officer honored at Rose Parade
