Zudi Daci
Zudi Daci
Friday, May 22, 2020
Age: 79
Location:
Signs Road and Arlene St
Staten Island , NY
United States
from SIlive
Fit grandpa took bike to store to buy lemons. He never returned.
STATEN
ISLAND, N.Y. -- Zudi Daci, a retired teacher and devoted family man,
was riding a bike to a store when he was fatally struck by a pickup
truck near his home in Bulls Head, according to his family.
Daci,
79, rarely ventured from the family home during the coronavirus
lockdown, so when the grandfather told his wife, Lutfije, that he was
going to the store, she tried to talk him out of it.
But he wouldn’t listen.
Instead, Daci hopped on his grandson’s bike and peddled away from their home never to return. He
was only a couple of blocks from his residence when he was struck by a
pickup truck that was turning left in the intersection of Signs Road and
Arlene Street at about 8:21 a.m. on Friday.
The
next time his family saw him, the grandfather lay critically injured in
the hospital, where hours later he would succumb to his injuries, which
included head trauma, said his son, Fisnik.
He would have celebrated his 80th birthday on June 5. Instead, his funeral was on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
Since
the tragic crash, the family has received over 1,000 messages of
condolence via social media, texts and emails from Daci’s former
students and their families.
“Teaching
was not his job to get paid, it was his passion,” Fisnik said of his
father, who was an educator for over 40 years in his native Macedonia
before retiring in 1999 and moving to the United States with his wife in
2000.
“He
was very kind, he was patient,” the son said of his father, who enjoyed
dispensing advice gleaned over nearly eight decades of life.
Daci loved to read books and also wrote poetry and stories that he shared with family and friends.
Never
a smoker or drinker, Daci was in good shape for his age. He was able to
control his diabetes through diet and exercise; a couple of days before
he died, a doctor said Daci had the heart of a 20-year-old man,
according to his son.
Despite
being a careful cyclist who followed the rules of the road, Daci was
struck down in the crosswalk on a Friday that quickly turned tragic.
Fisnick
left for work before his father said to his mother, "'I’m going out to
buy some lemons. Do you need anything else from the store?'
“Mom said, ‘Stay home, we have everything here.’”
After Daci didn’t return in about an hour, Lutfije started to worry.
She
contacted their son and they waited another half-hour or so before
Lutfije left the house in a car with one of the grandchildren to search
for her husband. Daci wasn’t at the store, but on the way home, Lutfije
and her grandson saw the large police response. Because Daci didn’t have
any identification on him, there was a delay in notifying the family.
Their
worst fears were confirmed after they saw the grandfather at Richmond
University Medical Center in West Brighton and were told he would not
survive.
In addition to being survived by his wife, Lutfije, and son, Fisnik, Daci is survived by his daughter Julinda.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Age: 79
Location:
Signs Road and Arlene St
Staten Island , NY
United States
from SIlive
Fit grandpa took bike to store to buy lemons. He never returned.
STATEN
ISLAND, N.Y. -- Zudi Daci, a retired teacher and devoted family man,
was riding a bike to a store when he was fatally struck by a pickup
truck near his home in Bulls Head, according to his family.
Daci,
79, rarely ventured from the family home during the coronavirus
lockdown, so when the grandfather told his wife, Lutfije, that he was
going to the store, she tried to talk him out of it.
But he wouldn’t listen.
Instead, Daci hopped on his grandson’s bike and peddled away from their home never to return. He
was only a couple of blocks from his residence when he was struck by a
pickup truck that was turning left in the intersection of Signs Road and
Arlene Street at about 8:21 a.m. on Friday.
The
next time his family saw him, the grandfather lay critically injured in
the hospital, where hours later he would succumb to his injuries, which
included head trauma, said his son, Fisnik.
He would have celebrated his 80th birthday on June 5. Instead, his funeral was on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
Since
the tragic crash, the family has received over 1,000 messages of
condolence via social media, texts and emails from Daci’s former
students and their families.
“Teaching
was not his job to get paid, it was his passion,” Fisnik said of his
father, who was an educator for over 40 years in his native Macedonia
before retiring in 1999 and moving to the United States with his wife in
2000.
“He
was very kind, he was patient,” the son said of his father, who enjoyed
dispensing advice gleaned over nearly eight decades of life.
Daci loved to read books and also wrote poetry and stories that he shared with family and friends.
Never
a smoker or drinker, Daci was in good shape for his age. He was able to
control his diabetes through diet and exercise; a couple of days before
he died, a doctor said Daci had the heart of a 20-year-old man,
according to his son.
Despite
being a careful cyclist who followed the rules of the road, Daci was
struck down in the crosswalk on a Friday that quickly turned tragic.
Fisnick
left for work before his father said to his mother, "'I’m going out to
buy some lemons. Do you need anything else from the store?'
“Mom said, ‘Stay home, we have everything here.’”
After Daci didn’t return in about an hour, Lutfije started to worry.
She
contacted their son and they waited another half-hour or so before
Lutfije left the house in a car with one of the grandchildren to search
for her husband. Daci wasn’t at the store, but on the way home, Lutfije
and her grandson saw the large police response. Because Daci didn’t have
any identification on him, there was a delay in notifying the family.
Their
worst fears were confirmed after they saw the grandfather at Richmond
University Medical Center in West Brighton and were told he would not
survive.
In addition to being survived by his wife, Lutfije, and son, Fisnik, Daci is survived by his daughter Julinda.