Rockland Remembers On Coronavirus Pandemic's 1st Anniversary

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — An outside service was held Wednesday in New City to commemorate local lives lost to COVID-19 in the past year.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day was joined at the Allison-Parris County Office Building by local faith-based leaders for prayer and reflection during a candlelight memorial.

Day remembered declaring a local State of Emergency for Rockland County as coronavirus cases swelled March 16. Rockland had just become the site of the second COVID-19 fatality in New York.

The death toll stood at 771 at the end of 2020. As of Friday, there have been 909 coronavirus-related deaths in the county.

“This is a staggering number by any measure and yet each of these deaths is so much more than just a number. These folks were our friends, our family, our neighbors, and each of us carries these members of our Rockland family with us every day,” Day said. “We honor them with our strength, our resilience, our compassion. While the names of those who have passed due to COVID are not carved into a granite memorial and are not yet recited on an annual basis, they have been carved into the hearts of friends and family; they have been recited daily by those who knew them best. They were loved, and they will always be remembered.”

Reciting a prayer and lighting a candle in memory of the lives lost were:

• Pastor Brandon McLauchlin, St. Charles AME Zion Church
• Rabbi Craig Scheff, Orangetown Jewish Center
• Reverend Kathryn Rivera Torea, Central Presbyterian
• Imam Syed Ali, Iqra Darul Ehsan Mosque
• Father William Cosgrove, St Augustine Roman Catholic Church
• Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, Oizrim Jewish Council and Rockland County Human Rights Commission

"Let us always remember how we came together in the face of a common enemy and found ourselves drawing strength from the common dreams and desires we always shared but sometimes forget," Day said. "As diverse as we may be, we are truly one people. Sometimes it takes crisis and challenge to remind us of that. May we all continue to love and grow with each other as Rockland remembers."