09/09/2008 Isabel Nazario is recalled as a pioneer.

The death Friday of Officer Isabel Nazario was particularly painful among the Police Department's Latinos and in the city's Puerto Rican community, who remembered her as a doting mother and friend, as a tough professional, and as a pioneer.

"It's devastating to lose one of our members," said Eddie Lopez, vice president of the Spanish American Law Enforcement Association. "To lose the first female Latina member, we're all trying to deal with it the best we can. "

Lopez said that Nazario, who joined the association shortly after becoming a policewoman, made friends as easily on the force as she did while growing up in Hunting Park and attending Olney High School.

"She was a very outgoing person, very sweet," Lopez said. "She never had an attitude. She was always polite. "

Nazario, 40, an 18-year veteran, was mortally wounded and her partner, Officer Terry Tull, was gravely injured when their cruiser was T-boned by a stolen Cadillac Escalade at 39th and Wallace Streets about 9:30 p.m. on Friday. A West Philadelphia teenager has been charged with multiple offenses, including third-degree murder, in the case.

Nazario's fiance, Officer Carlos Buitrago of the 25th District, said he hugged and kissed her before her shift Friday, and spoke to her about an hour before the accident because he needed to hear her voice "just to know she was OK. "

Then he got a call directing him to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where Nazario had been taken. He said he knew it was bad because he saw a massive turnout of officers, including police brass.

"I just started calling out her name and ran to the emergency room, where they were working on her," he said last night, pausing. "It's just so sad. . . . She filled my life with such happiness. "

Although they had known each other since 1985, their first date was in April last year. They talked about love and the hurt that comes with it. Then they talked about their love for their children - her 15-year-old daughter and his sons, ages 14 and 16. Recently, he said, they told their families that they planned to marry, buy a house together, and merge their families.

Nazario's colleagues and others in the Latino community yesterday remembered her as a graceful, impeccable and steady figure who doted on her daughter, Jazmin.

"It struck a lot of people very hard," said Quetcy Lozada, chief of staff to City Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sanchez, and who counted herself a personal friend.