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The Sound Beach community has rallied around the family of James “Jay” Sasek in the weeks since his death, raising nearly $22,000 through more than 130 donations to a GoFundMe campaign supporting his wife and six children.
Sasek — a father, stepfather and longtime volunteer firefighter, paramedic and EMT — is survived by his wife, Michelle; his three children, Adele, John Paul and Robert; and three stepchildren, Mikey, Paulie and Hailey, as well as his parents, Robert and Patricia; his siblings, Lori, Jeremy, Michael and Stephanie; and extended family.
Visitation for Sasek, 49, who died on Feb. 3, was held at Branch Funeral Home in Miller Place. A funeral Mass was held at St. Anthony of Padua R.C. Church in Rocky Point and interment was at Commack Cemetery.
The GoFundMe campaign, titled “Support for Jay Sasek’s Family in Their Grief,” was created to help his family with funeral costs and other essential expenses following his death.
Daughter: ‘My protector’
“Losing my Father so suddenly has shattered our hearts in words that can’t even be explained. One moment he’s here doing as he always was and the next our life’s were changed forever,” Sasek’s eldest daughter Adele Rutuelo wrote on the GoFundMe page. “My Dad was not only my Father but my protector, my guide, my constant source of love, and all I had.
“On top of this unbearable grief, his wife and I are now left to handle expenses we were never ever prepared for,” she continued. “While we are trying to process the shock of losing him, we are also forced to worry about costs he never expected to leave behind. It hurts knowing that in the middle of mourning my father, we are carrying a burden that feels far too heavy.”
Top: photos courtesy of GoFundMe
