[Image via Facebook]
The New York Times has a report on the wake and funeral for Moises Ismael Locón Yac, one of two men killed in the gas explosion at 121 Second Ave. on March 26.
In Queens, where Mr. Locón lived in a rented room decorated with images of his adopted city, the Guatemalan Consulate had arranged a funeral at the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has connections to Guatemalans in Jamaica, as well as the wake in Brooklyn. It had been up to Mr. Locón’s three brothers and his cousin, far from their family in Guatemala, to take care of everything else.
“He was just working,” Mr. Locón’s cousin, Pablo Yac, 23, said during the wake. “I’m crying for him.”
Mr. Locón’s brother Alfredo, 30, stood off to one side, trying to organize things. He was the oldest, the one who had tried to take care of his brothers in New York. Asked if he knew that people had been donating to a fund for the family, created by a woman in the East Village, Alfredo nodded. “We’re thankful for everything that people have done for us,” he said, his voice breaking.
Hugo Ortega was the only one of Locón's Sushi Park co-workers to attend the wake.
“I’m always going to miss him. I love him. He was my best friend,” he said, distraught. “He was a very good person. Everyone loved him very much.”
Previously on EV Grieve:
Remembering East Village blast victim Nicholas Figueroa
4 comments:
I am relieved that Mr. Locon Yac was given the wake and funeral he deserved, and that his family is aware that funds are being raised for them. I hope his family knows how much concern and support there is for them within the EV community.
It would have been nice if some random well-heeled person had paid the cost of returning his body to Guatemala, since that is likely expensive.
I extend my sincere sympathy to Mr. Locon Yac's extended family on his tragic death.
@11:20pm-- via the NYT article (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/nyregion/funeral-masses-held-for-2-killed-in-east-village-explosion.html?_r=0), his body will be returned to Guatemala.
RIP
@1:18pm: Yes, I saw that article and I understand that Mr. Locon Yak's body IS being returned to Guatemala.
My original point from 11:20pm yesterday is that the NY Times article said the Consulate had helped arrange the wake and funeral Mass, BUT that the rest was up to Mr. Locon Yak's family, which to me says his family has to pay to fly his body back to Guatemala.
Thus, my statement that it would have been nice if some random well-heeled person had stepped forward to pay for his body to be returned to Guatemala.
please consider funding the GOFundme site set up for the family to pay expenses.
http://www.gofundme.com/moiseslocon
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