New York, NY – A pedestrian killed by a collapsing crane was eulogized Sunday as a man of kindness and generosity as the final remnants of the crumpled steel were removed from the street where they fell.
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David Wichs, 38, has been described by relatives as a mathematical whiz who graduated from Harvard University and worked at a computerized-trading firm.
His good deeds also made him “an angel,” said Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, rabbi emeritus of the Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, where the funeral was held.
“We honor a very unique man whose life was a life of giving: giving from his possessions to causes he believed in passionately,” Rabbi Lookstein said.
Video below: The funeral (Credit: Stefano Giovannini/VINnews.com)
The recipients included the Yeshiva of Flatbush, which had welcomed Wichs as a 14-year-old from Prague who barely spoke English and knew no Hebrew. “He never forgot it, and he gave back generously,” the rabbi said.
“He gave an unusually large part of his income, but he gave of his person to everybody sitting here,” Rabbi Lookstein said. “He was a supreme mensch in every respect.”
Wichs’ widow, Rebecca Guttman, called her pain “unbearable.”
“I want you to know that I will do my best to live for us both,” Guttman told her fellow mourners.
Manhattan Borough President Gale A Brewer who attended the funeral said that Wichs was an extraordinarily wonderful human being and his death is a tragedy.
Wichs’ remains were taken for burial at Passaic Junction Cemetery in Saddle Brook, New Jersey.
Three other people were struck by debris and injured in the accident Friday.
City officials say it could take weeks to determine why the crane collapsed while it was being lowered during strong winds.
Work crews sliced the 565-foot-long mangled crane into dozens of pieces, then used other cranes to load the pieces onto flatbed trucks. Other workers have been concentrating on crushed water pipes and street repairs.
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besira tovas
Bd”E. Although I did not know the niftar personally, I work a few blocks from the incident. Very tragic.
Bd”E
BDE. Too horrible for words. Such a good person and a credit to Klal Yisrael. I walked that street 24 hours before and rode a bus half an hour before. Crazy.
may the family be comforted.
Rarely have I read a sadder story. A refugee from Communism, a graduate from America’s leading university, a highly talented, generous man, recently married, a frum Jew, taken away by a rare accident in the prime of his life.