By Lauren del Valle
NEWS EDITOR
Mere hours into 2015, as dawn rose over the hamlet of Copiague, NY a tree would halt a skidding Jeep on impact and alter a community forever.
Joe Ferriso passed away three days later on Jan. 3, unable to overcome the injuries and brain damage caused by the crash.
The 19-year-old sophomore mechanical engineering major left behind a legacy of humility, kindness and relentless persistence. He is survived by his parents Al and Debbie, and his sister and brother-in-law Amy and Arman Osooli. They are intertwined with the Pride community – Al Ferriso is a current Hofstra employee while Arman and Amy are members of the graduating classes of ‘07 and ‘08 and members of the men’s and women’s varsity soccer programs, respectively.
More than 2,000 people offered condolences and fond memories to the Ferriso family at the D’Andrea Brothers Funeral Home in Copiague. The church and auditorium of Our Lady of Assumption R.C. Church were rendered standing-room-only.
The parish pastor, Reverend Dariusz Koszyk, celebrated the funeral mass; a tribute to Joe’s stewardship as an altar server growing up as a devout member of Our Lady of Assumption.
A multifaceted personality, Joe played the French horn as a member of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. He performed at Carnegie Hall as first horn of the Nassau Principal Orchestra in 2013.
Joe was a member Copiague Boy Scout Troop 284 throughout his youth. He restored the entryway of the Babylon Youth Service Building as his final project to earn Eagle Scout ranking; the highest honor in Boy Scouts.
He graduated from Kellenberg Memorial High School on the honor roll with perfect attendance. Joe was a three-sport athlete and the captain of the soccer and lacrosse teams his senior year. A bench sits on the sports fields in honor of his memory.
At Hofstra, Joe immersed himself in the culture of the athletic community. As a freshman, he tried out for the Division I men’s soccer team. Although he did not ultimately make the roster, Joe continued to train with the team during the spring season.
Pursuing his goal of being a Division I student-athlete, he also played club lacrosse before securing a defensive position on the varsity men’s lacrosse team in the fall of 2014.
“At the time I didn’t know his name, Joe being a walk-on,” said associate head strength and conditioning coach Jimmy Prendergast. “I knew his integrity as a person because I didn’t know how many [sprints] of the run test he missed. He could have just said I passed 15 so he didn’t have to run the whole 20 minutes over again. But no, he said, ‘No coach, I didn’t pass it.’ He had to run the whole 20 minutes again.”
Prendergast was the last member of the coaching staff to see Joe.
Joe opted out of joining his parents in Florida for the holidays so he could prepare for the upcoming season. New Year’s Eve morning he trained with Prendergast and a teammate, senior midfielder John Reicherter.
“Anytime there was an opportunity he was constantly asking me for extra work,” said Prendergast. “He was willing to go above and beyond to make himself better. If [the team] lifted four times, he got a fifth day in… He was there getting better. He got better on New Year’s Eve. And then obviously we found out the news.”
The towel he used after his last workout remains draped over his locker.
Before departing for Syracuse to play their first scrimmage Jan. 24, Mr. and Mrs. Ferriso met with Coach Tierney and the team. Joe’s parents spoke to the group with words of support, ensuring them of Joe’s love for each one of his teammates. Together they broke down a huddle chanting “family” before boarding the bus.
Tierney took Joe’s parents to see his locker and the evidence of his last day in Margiotta Hall. Though offered whatever they wanted of Joe’s belongings, they chose to leave it.
“We couldn’t do that to the boys,” said Al Ferriso. “It wouldn’t be fair to take that away from them so soon.”
According to head coach Seth Tierney, his locker will remain intact until the team’s season opener this Saturday, Feb.14, against Marquette University. On Saturday the equipment staff will clear it with the rest of the team’s and hang his jersey, No. 36 – following game day protocol.
“From the time he was on the team in September, he was just the type of guy who was happy to be here,” said Reicherter. “[He] came in everyday, always worked hard, always had a smile on his face, never complained and just a great kid to be around and I’m just happy to have called him a friend.”
Teammates returned to campus early so they could pay their respects. They took a bus to the services. Over the casket they broke down their huddle with Joe for the final time. They chanted “family.”
“For a lot of our guys this may be their first time with death and it’s hard,” said Tierney. “Now all of a sudden burying a teammate; it’s not easy. Again, we’re entering new ground. Every day’s a new day. The guys breakdown every huddle saying ‘family.’”
A member of the NYPD semi-pro football team, New York’s Finest, for 20 years, Al Ferriso shared a love of competition and hard-work with his son. Most importantly, however, he expressed the importance of team camaraderie.
“He came home one night and said to me: ‘Dad, you always talked about family… this Hofstra lacrosse team is a real family. I know what you talked about,’” said Al Ferriso.
More than a part of the lacrosse team, Joe was constantly around Hofstra Athletics, working for the facilities event staff. He could be found mopping the basketball court during timeouts or collecting balls at field hockey games, always supporting fellow athletes.
Al Ferriso manages the night shift custodial services. As his father worked on campus since 2001, Joe often spent time among the staff members in the custodial office. Blue and gold bands bearing Joe’s name can be seen on the wrists of custodial employees around campus.
“He would do homework and take naps in here in between classes,” said Al Ferriso. “Monday through Friday I’d see him maybe an hour or two, but they were precious hours.”
The Ferriso family arranged college scholarships for a high school student from the Copiague area and Kellenberg Memorial High School. Al and Debbie will award the funds to students who they feel embody their son’s fervor for life. Coach Tierney has set up a memorial fund that will aid the experience of a lacrosse player each year.
“It came to me – if we can’t play with Joe, we’ll play for him… Play for Joe,” said Coach Tierney. “That quote has kind of taken on a life of its own.”
The team will wear “JF 36” patches on their home and away jerseys this season; the coaching staff will be similarly clad on the sidelines in sweatshirts boasting the number 36.
Senior midfielder Mike Malave worked with Lacrosse Unlimited and Warrior to create “JF 36” stick heads dyed blue and white for him and his teammates.
Women’s sports teams will wear “JF 36” headbands in support. “Play for Joe” shirts will be sold at the official bookstore. The proceeds will contribute to the memorial fund.
The Town of Babylon will formally rename Rose Street “Joseph A. Ferriso Way” on March 23, what would have been the Copiague resident’s 20th birthday.
Joe spent his last hours ringing in the New Year with his girlfriend, Joanna Napolitano, a freshman at Dominican College. She holds on to her memories of his light-hearted demeanor. During a date to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, Napolitano recalled his asking her to hold something for him. He reached out his hand so he could hold hers.
“My friends said to me ‘He seems perfect. We’ve never seen you so happy,’ and I said ‘He is perfect,”’ said Napolitano.
They shared a passion for lacrosse, and practiced together when they could. Though only dating for three weeks when Joe died, he won the love of Joanna and fondness of her friends and family.
His last gesture, true to his nature: leaving her friend’s home that morning, Joe folded his sheets neatly atop his pillow and left her a text message that he needed to feed his dog, but would see her later and loved her, according to Napolitano.
Whether or not he realized it during his 19 years, those mourning his loss have assured his family that he impacted lives wherever he went. His legacy will be remembered on the Hofstra campus.
“My son had faith and I have faith,” said Al Ferriso. “Faith is going to enable us to go on – and our friends… He’d want us to still live because he was a liver.”
Additional reporting by Mike Rudin
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