[Codger]

Thank you for your help!!
It's working the way I want now.

local function getGearItemLvl(slotName)
    local lvl = 0
    if (slotName ~= nil) then
        local slotID, texture, checkRelic = GetInventorySlotInfo(slotName)
        --print("getGearItemLvl    " .. slotID .. "     " .. texture .. "     " .. tostring(checkRelic))
        if (slotID ~= nil) then
            local itemLocation = ItemLocation:CreateFromEquipmentSlot(slotID)
            if C_Item.DoesItemExist(itemLocation) then
                lvl = C_Item.GetCurrentItemLevel(itemLocation)
            end
        end
    end
    --print("getGearItemLvl("..slotName..") " .. "  slotID: " .. slotID .. "  itemlevel: " .. lvl)
    return format("%s", lvl)
end

For anyone that needs this the slotName is one of "HeadSlot", "NeckSlot", "ShoulderSlot", "BackSlot"...