STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — More than 1,000 Staten Islanders gathered together to mourn the loss of Rory DeCristoforo Friday afternoon at the Matthew Funeral Home on Victory Boulevard in Willowbrook.
Both young and old waited in the cold to pay their respects to the 6-year-old West Brighton girl lost in a house fire on New Year’s Day, the line of people wrapping around the block and into the parking lot.
NYPD units closed off a side street off Willowbrook Road and oversaw the flow of traffic during the visitation hours of 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Families donned traditional visitation attire and stood alongside groups of adolescent boys wearing St. Peter’s Boys’ High School gear. Rory’s father, Mark, is the athletic director and head football coach of the school.
Among the attendees were District Attorney Michael McMahon, Tunnel to Towers Chief Executive Officer Frank Siller, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Monsignor Farrell High School Lou Tobacco. Joining the St. Peter’s students, boys from Moore Catholic High School and Monsignor Farrell High School could also be seen in their school attire.
As night fell, guests continued to arrive on the scene; the procession filtering into the funeral home in waves, warmed by heaters and tents provided by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Some of the boys braved the cold dressed in high school football jerseys during their visit.
A large crowd of mourners, estimated to be more than 1,000 people, circle the block around the Matthew Funeral Home for the wake of Rory DeCristoforo on Jan. 5, 2024. (Steve White for the Staten Island Advance)Steve White
The funeral Mass will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church, Tompkinsville. Burial will follow in St. Peter’s Cemetery, West Brighton.
AN OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT
Friday’s turnout is a physical manifestation of what has been a tremendous show of support for the DeCristoforo family.
A GoFundMe fundraiser set up by a family friend to support the…
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