STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Dozens of tearful mourners clungto each other in the gray autumn chill yesterday asTottenville High School senior Janine Brawer was laid torest in Ocean View Cemetery, Oakwood.
some 1,600 people attended her wake over the weekend.
Ms. Brawer, 17, of Eltingville, died Thursday withoutregaining consciousness after she was struck by a car onNov. 13 as she crossed a dangerous stretch of Luten Avenueafter an early school dismissal.
Rabbi Lester Polonsky of Temple Israel, Randall Manor, ledfamily and friends in prayer at Ms. Brawer’s graveside,with her father and mother, Sandy and Robin, sobbing in atight embrace afterward.
Rabbi Polonsky said he had counseled Ms. Brawer’sloved ones to, in the days ahead, “surround themselveswith friends and family, to try to look beyond the tragedyof her death and to look at her life and the special bond oflove they shared.” he advised her fellow students”to look to each other for strength.”
Earlier, Ms. Brawer’s father and her brother, Seth,gave moving eulogies at a service in the Bedell-PizzoFuneral Home, Tottenville.
Calling Ms. Brawer “my princess,” Sandy Brawersaid her “loss is a hurt which has no boundaries.”He said his daughter was “high-spirited, determined andcaring,” and recalled how she would call for him fromher crib just to say, “I love you, Daddy.”
Seth Brawer called his sister his “companion andpartner in crime” and said he was proud of her”courageous” decision to be an organ donor, a wishthat tragically came to pass all too soon.
“Every brother should be blessed with a sister likeJanine,” he said.
Ms. Brawer, a straight-A student with a flair for the arts,was involved with her school’s “Sing”production. the program, which was held last weekend, wasdedicated to her memory.
Ms. Brawer suffered head and internal injuries after beingstruck by a car driven by a Tottenville student who hadstopped to let her cross Luten. that car was struck frombehind by another car, also driven by a Tottenville student,and the force of the impact pushed the first car into Ms.Brawer. No charges have been filed.
Judy L. Randall is a news reporter for the Advance. Shemay be reached at randall@siadvance.com.
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