WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES FEBRUARY 15, 2018 3
Heroic Glendale boy who saved friend from icy pond laid to rest
Photo by Robert Stridiron
The mother of Anthony Perez weeps as she leaves his funeral service on Feb. 12 at St. Pancras Church.
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BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The heroic 11-year-old Glendale
boy who died while rescuing
his friend from an icy pond in
Forest Park was laid to rest on Feb. 12
at St. Pancras Church.
More than 100 mourners attended
the funeral service for Anthony Perez,
who fell into the ice-covered Strack
Pond in Forest Park on Feb. 6.
Anthony reportedly helped his
friend get to safety aft er he ventured
too far out onto the thin ice and broke
through when he himself became
trapped beneath the ice. Anthony’s
friend was able to escape and run to
get help; fi refi ghters pulled Perez from
the water, but he died a short time later.
The wake for Perez was held the previous
day, Feb. 11, where several hundred
members of the community went
to pay their respects at the Walsh-La
Bella & Son Funeral Home. The tragedy
gathered national attention because
of Anthony's bravery, and the local
community rallied around his family.
On Feb. 7, the president of the PTA at
P.S./I.S. 113Q where Anthony went to
school, Jennifer Bonowitz, launched
a GoFundMe campaign aft er meeting
with the PTA to decide how they could
help Anthony’s family pay for his funeral.
The fund collected more than $11,000
in donations in less than 24 hours, and
to date there has been $23,717 raised on
behalf of the Perez family.
Bonowitz said she saw the news
coverage the night of the incident, but
didn’t know it was a child from their
school until the next morning.
“I was just heartbroken,” Bonowitz
said. “He was a good little boy and always
had a smile on his face and was
very polite.”
The PTA at P.S./I.S. 113Q spends a
lot of time in the school, Bonowitz
said, and provides “the mother factor
in the building.” Looking at the rest of
the children now, it’s hard to imagine
losing one, she said.
Forest Park is open year round
but the man-made Strack Pond is not
drained in the winter, according to
a Parks Department spokesperson.
When asked on Feb. 14 if the department
has done something more to
secure the pond aft er this incident, the
spokesperson released the following
statement.
“It is very important for parkgoers
to know that while ponds and lakes
may appear frozen, they oft en are
not,” the spokesperson said. “To
remind people of the dangers of thin
ice, NYC Parks posts warning signs
along the perimeter of the City’s
lakes and ponds. Special ladders are
also installed around the edges for
trained personnel to use in the event
of an emergency.”
