Funeral Services Held For Queens Educator
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Family, friends and students gathered Wednesday afternoon to say goodbye to the I.S. 238 assistant principal who died earlier this week from complications from H1N1. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.With tears in their eyes, hundreds of Mitchell Wiener's friends, co-workers and students gathered to say goodbye to the beloved educator who died Sunday due to complications from the H1N1 virus.
"The picture that his students are painting, that his friends are painting it couldn't be any more true. He is the model citizen. He really is," said Rick Schon, Wiener's cousin.
Wiener was hospitalized a week ago, after testing positive for H1N1. His condition quickly deteriorated and he died within days. The city has suggested there may have been underlying health conditions that contributed to his death, something his family has denied.
At his funeral, there was an outpouring of support from students at I.S. 238 where Wiener was the assistant principal. Many shared stories of the kindness and humor he was known for.
"When I was in trouble he helped me get out of it and when I needed help in class he gave me a tutor," said Jeffery Grey, a seventh grader at I.S. 238.
"The jokes he would say on the intercom every morning...yeah he was a great man," said Latoya Edwards a sixth grader at I.S. 238.
In addition to Wiener, four students at I.S. 238 also tested positive for the virus, causing the city to close the school last Thursday. Some teachers say it should have been closed the week before when students first came down with flu symptoms. Some also said they were not notified that anyone had tested positive.
"Not good. Not good. We should have been told. When we left on Thursday we did not know we would not be going back," said Marcia Riffkin, a teacher at I.S. 238.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and a deputy mayor attended the funeral but did not address those statements.
During the service, friends say Wiener's sons focused on his life rather than his death.
"Even though it's a sad time they didn't want this whole process to be thought of as a sad time. They wanted it to be a celebration of his life," said Tom Golero, a family friend.