Services for woman found in Long Island Sound, remembered as ‘loving soul’

Funeral services for Brittany Kritis-Garip, a speech-language pathologist whose body was recovered from the Long Island Sound this week, will be held this week.

Kritis-Garip, 32, had been missing since March 20 when she exited a moving car in Oyster Bay and ran off.

A wake will be held Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Oyster Bay Funeral Home, 261 South St., followed by a funeral mass Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Dominic RC Chapel in Oyster Bay.

Krisit-Garip’s disappearance sparked a weeks-long search that drew widespread community support before her body was found on Monday floating in the Sound in Lloyd Harbor.

Suffolk Police believe her cause of death to be non-criminal in nature.

“I have not met a kinder or more thoughtful person,” wrote Brigid Fitall, a college classmate from Hofstra. “Her sweet and genuine spirit was a gift to every client she has treated as a Speech-Language Pathologist.

“Her drive to learn and develop her skills to help people was evident,” Fitall continued. “Everyone that has ever met her is a better person for having known her.”

Her father-in-law Fernando Garip Jr. wrote: “Brittany was a beautiful, kind, loving soul and will live in our hearts always and forever. May she rest in loving peace for eternity. My son was blessed to have been her husband.”

Friend Dena LaRocca Lennon described Kritis-Garip as a “beautiful lady from the inside out.”

“She is so easy to love and she is the most caring person I ever known,” LaRocca wrote. “Brittany will always have a special place in my heart, now and forever.”

Katie Antonacci, a colleague, also recalled Kritis-Garip’d thoughtfulness.

“I will never forget Brittany’s kindness. She made it a point to stop and ask about your day and even brought in snacks to show her support for our department,” Antonacci shared. “She told me how important it was to her that we support one another and was just another way her kindness lit up the world.”

Kritis-Garip is survived by her husband, Fernando Garip III; her parents, George and Maryann Kritis; her brothers, Anthony and Niko Kritis; her grandmother, Rosemarie Ward; and many other loving family members and friends.

Her brother Niko described her in a Facebook post as “a light in the lives of everyone she met.”

“Her warmth, kindness, and spirit left a lasting mark on so many people,” he wrote. “That light does not disappear — it lives on in all of us who knew and loved her.”

_{Top: Brittany Kritis-Garip (Oyster Bay Funeral Home)}