Obituary: Vincent Pecora Dead At 70 After Garden City Crash

LYNBROOK, NY — Vincent J. Pecora Jr., 70, died on Feb. 17 at the age of 70.

Pecora was born in Queens on Sept. 3, 1950, to his loving parents, Vincent and Rose Pecora. He has 3 brothers; Tee, John (Mary Lou) and Donny (Kelly). Pecora is survived by his five children; Nicole (Kevin), Jeanette (Christian), Carlos (Laura), Marivi (Christopher), and Vincent. He is also survived by 14 cherished grandchildren; John, Christian, Josiah, Jaelyn, Rian, Calaya, Cassidy, Josh, CJ, Gabe, Aiden, Colten, Anna, and Penelope, according to Perry Funeral Home.

While trying to cross in front of 1 Commercial Ave., Garden City, Pecora was hit by a 2006 Toyota 4-Runner traveling eastbound at 6 p.m. Feb. 11, Nassau police said. Pecora suffered multiple trauma injuries and was brought to a nearby hospital. The 50-year-old man driving the Toyota remained at the scene, police said.

Pecora was making his daily trip to visit Longo-Weidman Mixed Martial Arts, co-owned by his son-in-law, Chris Weidman, a former UFC middleweight champion from Long Island. Pecora forgot his mask and turned around to his car when he was hit by the truck, Weidman shared in a Facebook post.

"Complete accident but downright tragic," Weidman wrote.

Weidman was a 7th grader when he met Pecora, who was the father of Marivi, Chris's wife-to-be. Pecora, or "Pops," as Weidman called him, would drive Weidman to most of his offseason tournaments and camps; attended all of Weidman's wrestling matches through high school and college; and never missed one of Weidman's mixed martial arts fights.

"If you spoke to him, there was one of 3 things you probably discussed: Vietnam, Wrestling, and Mixed Martial Arts (since I started fighting)," Weidman wrote. "Pops was more of a quiet guy until it was time to talk about any of these. When that time came, it could go on for hours. He would always ask if I was tired of him chewing my ears off and my response was always 'no' and 'never.' Pops would tell me how much he appreciated me listening and paying attention to him. He would say to me, and others, that I always listened to him when it came to his stories from an early age. I was proud of that."

Pecora gravitated towards youth wrestling, and the thing he was most passionate about was helping out wrestlers and feeling like he was making a difference, Weidman said.

Weidman and the Pecora family set up the Vincent J. Pecora Jr. Memorial Wrestling Scholarship through a GoFundMe fundraiser. The foundation's goal is to keep Pecora's memory alive by supporting young wrestlers in their pursuit of higher education. The family asked that anyone who knew Pecora continue to speak his name, tell his stories, and share their knowledge, tips and words of encouragement with one another.

"I watched him transform over the years from the hardest, toughest guy I knew to the soft-hearted grandpa," Weidman said. "I could have never imagined this as I grew up. His grandkids could do anything under the sun, even border on disrespect, and he would still love them and give a big smile."

Visitation for Pecora is scheduled at Perry Funeral Home, Inc., at 118 Union Ave., Lynbrook, for 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday; 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday; and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday. His mass is slated for 10 a.m. Friday at Our Lady Of Peace RC Church, at 25 Fowler Ave., Lynbrook. He is scheduled to be laid to rest at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Rood Cemetery, on Old Country Road in Westbury.

In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to be made to the Vincent J. Pecora Jr. Scholarship Fund.