 |
| Traffic moves through the intersection of Church and Helen streets in Saranac Lake on Monday in front of the DeChantel Apartments. Residents of the 130-unit apartment complex are still coming to grips with the deaths of Louis Sparacia, in a fall from his 10th floor apartment last week, and another DeChantel tenant by suicide two days earlier. |
Deaths disturb high-rise residents: Saranac Lake - Residents of the DeChantel Apartments on Church Street are still mourning the death of Louis Sparacia, who died a week ago Monday when he fell from the window of his 10th story apartment. Sparacia, 69, was apparently trying to clean the outside of his apartment's windows when he fell to the ground between the building and Helen Street. Police say the death was accidental.
Sparacia's death, particularly the way he died, has upset many of the DeChantel's residents, a tight-knit community of more than 100 people. Many are still coming to grips with what happened that day. "I saw the ambulance pull up," recalled a DeChantel tenant named Jim, who declined to give the Enterprise his last name. "I went downstairs and saw everybody standing in the community room. I looked out the window and saw (his body) was there. It was just very depressing." Sparacia's death was the second tragedy to hit the apartment complex recently. Another tenant committed suicide by gunshot just two days earlier.
To help those who are grieving, Phil and Wayne Feinberg, the father and son who manage the 130-unit apartment complex, invited a bereavement specialist from High Peaks Hospice, a counselor from North Star Industries and two local clergy - the Rev. Mark Reilly of St. Bernard's Church and Rev. Joann White of First Presbyterian Church - to a bereavement session for the building's tenants on Friday. Feinberg said he's been told that people are doing better now, but initially they were "pretty shaken" by the two deaths. "When two people pass away in three days the way that they did, it hits everybody," he said.
A resident of the DeChantel for the past nine years, Sparacia was well known among the building's tenants and had served as president of the DeChantel tenants' association as recently as two years ago. He was described as a friendly man who was always willing to lend a hand to help his neighbors. "He was a big stalwart of this community here," Jim said. "He was a really nice guy - one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life." Jim said he wasn't surprised to learn that Lou - as he was known to his fellow tenants - had been trying to clean his windows the day that he died. "He loved to clean," he said. "He'd go around to apartments and want to clean them for people. He wanted to do mine one time."
A longtime DeChantel resident named Charlotte, who also declined to provide her last name, said she took Sparacia shopping several times because he was visually impaired. "I knew him well," she said. "He was a good cook. He'd cook here when we had parties. He worked at the Adult Center often. A real gentleman." Phil Feinberg recalled seeing Sparacia frequently over the years. "He was a very nice guy," Feinberg said. "He would usually try to help anybody if he could. He was quite a gentleman."
Asked about the circumstances surrounding Sparacia's death, the Feinbergs said they don't clean the windows of individual apartments and don't want their tenants, many of whom are elderly, to do that work. They typically try to help their tenants find someone to clean their windows. "Usually every year there's one or two people who put signs up in the lobby, and they'll come in and do the window cleaning for people," Wayne Feinberg said. "We're not telling people to be reaching out and cleaning their windows."
The DeChantel building, which opened in 1973, is owned by the nonprofit Dechantel Apartments Inc. and has 130 apartments, all of them for low-income senior citizens, with rents subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Louis Sparacia is survived by two sons, a daughter and other family members. Funeral services took place Monday at St. Bernard's Church. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Sparacia will be laid to rest at Saratoga National Cemetery.
Sparacia's death, particularly the way he died, has upset many of the DeChantel's residents, a tight-knit community of more than 100 people. Many are still coming to grips with what happened that day. "I saw the ambulance pull up," recalled a DeChantel tenant named Jim, who declined to give the Enterprise his last name. "I went downstairs and saw everybody standing in the community room. I looked out the window and saw (his body) was there. It was just very depressing." Sparacia's death was the second tragedy to hit the apartment complex recently. Another tenant committed suicide by gunshot just two days earlier.
To help those who are grieving, Phil and Wayne Feinberg, the father and son who manage the 130-unit apartment complex, invited a bereavement specialist from High Peaks Hospice, a counselor from North Star Industries and two local clergy - the Rev. Mark Reilly of St. Bernard's Church and Rev. Joann White of First Presbyterian Church - to a bereavement session for the building's tenants on Friday. Feinberg said he's been told that people are doing better now, but initially they were "pretty shaken" by the two deaths. "When two people pass away in three days the way that they did, it hits everybody," he said.
A resident of the DeChantel for the past nine years, Sparacia was well known among the building's tenants and had served as president of the DeChantel tenants' association as recently as two years ago. He was described as a friendly man who was always willing to lend a hand to help his neighbors. "He was a big stalwart of this community here," Jim said. "He was a really nice guy - one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life." Jim said he wasn't surprised to learn that Lou - as he was known to his fellow tenants - had been trying to clean his windows the day that he died. "He loved to clean," he said. "He'd go around to apartments and want to clean them for people. He wanted to do mine one time."
A longtime DeChantel resident named Charlotte, who also declined to provide her last name, said she took Sparacia shopping several times because he was visually impaired. "I knew him well," she said. "He was a good cook. He'd cook here when we had parties. He worked at the Adult Center often. A real gentleman." Phil Feinberg recalled seeing Sparacia frequently over the years. "He was a very nice guy," Feinberg said. "He would usually try to help anybody if he could. He was quite a gentleman."
Asked about the circumstances surrounding Sparacia's death, the Feinbergs said they don't clean the windows of individual apartments and don't want their tenants, many of whom are elderly, to do that work. They typically try to help their tenants find someone to clean their windows. "Usually every year there's one or two people who put signs up in the lobby, and they'll come in and do the window cleaning for people," Wayne Feinberg said. "We're not telling people to be reaching out and cleaning their windows."
The DeChantel building, which opened in 1973, is owned by the nonprofit Dechantel Apartments Inc. and has 130 apartments, all of them for low-income senior citizens, with rents subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Louis Sparacia is survived by two sons, a daughter and other family members. Funeral services took place Monday at St. Bernard's Church. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Sparacia will be laid to rest at Saratoga National Cemetery.
No comments:
Post a Comment