Slain NYC cop Jonathan Diller honored with touching new scholarship: His legacy is going to grow

Fallen Finest Jonathan Diller is being honored through a scholarship, with its first fundraiser set for Wednesday, eight months after he was killed approaching two criminals in a parked car in Queens.The new Detective Jonathan Diller Scholarship Fund will benefit students at the “American hero’s” high-School alma mater, St.Mary’s in Manhasset, LI, who exhibit the fallen NYPD cop’s same academic rigor and athleticism and have aspirations for a career in public safety, organizers said.“I consider him some sort of an American hero.

He made the ultimate sacrifice for the country, and he’s not going to be forgotten by the NYPD or St.Mary’s family.

We made sure of that,” said Patrick Welsh, the school’s athletic director, Diller’s former teacher and an ex-cop, to The Post.Diller’s widow, Stephanie, burst into tears when she learned of the effort, a supporter said.The first fundraiser for the scholarship will kick off Wednesday at the tragic married dad’s favorite watering hole, Mulcahy’s Pub & Concert Hall in Wantagh on Long Island — where Diller and his now-widow, Stephanie, spent a night dancing shortly before he was heinously killed in the line of duty in March.The effort’s goal is to raise $100,000 to annually support at least one junior or senior student at St.

Mary’s for years to come.Previous raffles in Diller’s name have historically scored record-setting collections, so it’s possible several students per year could qualify for scholarship money, organizers said.The scholarship has already raised more than $26,000.Wednesday’s event is an opportunity to pay homage to the slain cop and to his young widow and the 1-year-old son he left behind in Massapequa Park, LI, supporters said.“This family has suffered a tragedy that so many can identify with.

This family has the compassion of so many residents who feel deeply,” said Joseph Saladino, the Town of Oyster Bay supervisor.“We’ve had it with the laws in this ...