Tears covered the sidewalk outside I.S. 238 in Hollis, where, on Monday, May 18, hundreds of teachers, students, family, friends and the community at large held a silent candlelight vigil for Mitchell Wiener, 55, the assistant principal who died Sunday night, May 17 – the sixth U.S. casualty of the H1N1 swine flu and the first in the city.
The Health Department investigation into the death of 16-month-old Jonathan Zamora Castillo at Elmhurst Hospital did not indicate H1N1 infection. However, read a statement, “Because the case was fatal, it is necessary to take extra steps to get definitive results. Tissue specimens taken on autopsy have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further analysis.”
“He loved coming to work every day,” said Weiner’s grieving widow, Bonnie, who is herself a teacher at the school. “He was happiest sitting behind his desk.”
“It is my hope that his wife and their three sons will take some solace in the fact that their husband and father had a tremendous impact on the lives of generations of children in our community,” said Councilmember Leroy Comrie. “For more than three decades, Mr. Weiner helped to shape and guide our children and for that we are greatly indebted to him. It is also my hope that our community can work with the I.S. 238 family to find some way to pay tribute to Mr. Weiner in the near future so that future generations will be able to know about his legacy of extraordinary dedication to educating and teaching.”
The couple was married for 28 years and has three sons – all of whom, said Bonnie, will pursue careers in education in honor of their father, who was with I.S. 238 for more than 30 years.
Looking sad but touched at the outpouring of support, Bonnie told reporters, “I’m just here to be with the people who loved my husband.”
Calling his death a “nightmare,” she said that the family had finalized funeral arrangements just that day for Wednesday, May 20 at Sinai Chapels, where crowds overflowed.
Bonnie said that she will return to the school he loved when it reopens on Friday, May 22.
“I’ll sit in his desk one more time,” she said.
Bonnie has said that her husband was healthy overall, save for gout, but Dr. Thomas Frieden, Health Commissioner, has reportedly said that Weiner had preexisting conditions, making him more vulnerable to H1N1.
“He was kind, considerate, dedicated,” said a fellow teacher.
Eighth grader Gregory Estevez, who said he himself had swine flu, said that in the weeks leading up to I.S. 238’s closure on Thursday, May 14, “a lot of kids were sick.”
He claimed that a whole seventh grade class had to be isolated due to illness.
Now, however, he said, he just wants to get back to normal.
But a teacher questioned, “How do you go back to normal?”
