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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Schools
'I'm A Lucky Guy': Smithtown Students Sell Bracelets, Raise Money For Teacher Battling Cancer 'I'm A Lucky Guy': Smithtown Students Sell Bracelets, Raise Money For Teacher Battling Cancer
'I'm A Lucky Guy': Smithtown Students Sell Bracelets, Raise Money For Teacher Battling Cancer Two kindhearted students organized a fundraiser on behalf of their teacher, who had been out sick with cancer, raising hundreds for a cancer center in his honor. Rick Iurka, a social studies teacher at Nesaquake Middle School who left his classes in April 2023 to battle cancer, surprised students by making an appearance at the school’s “Moving Up Day” (a day to celebrate eighth graders ‘moving up’ to high school) – only to be surprised himself. Students Gracyn Catalanotto and Morgan DeBello, who had previously had Iurka as their seventh-grade teacher, came up with an idea to raise money f…

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by Sophie Grieser
Obituaries
'Always Helped People Out': Retired NYSP Sergeant Dies From 9/11-Related Illness At Age 42 'Always Helped People Out': Retired NYSP Sergeant Dies From 9/11-Related Illness At Age 42
'Always Helped People Out': Retired Nysp Sergeant Dies From 9/11-Related Illness At Age 42 Just two months after joining the New York City Police Department in the summer of 2001, Ivan Morales was among countless first responders who descended on the mangled debris and rubble of the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, working tirelessly to find survivors and recover the remains of those who died. Twenty-one years later, Morales, a resident of Catskill in Greene County, died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at the age of 42 after a “courageous” battle with an illness stemming from his assignment at the site, his obituary said. Moral…

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by Michael Mashburn
Obituaries
Popular Suffolk County HS Teacher/Coach Dies At 42 After Battling Cancer Popular Suffolk County HS Teacher/Coach Dies At 42 After Battling Cancer
Popular Suffolk County HS Teacher/Coach Dies At 42 After Battling Cancer The Sachem community is mourning the loss of Matt "Dezy" DiStefano, a Sachem High School North teacher and popular volleyball coach, who died from kidney cancer. DiStefano, of Ronkonkoma, died Monday, Jan. 27, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. He was 42. Known as a great motivational speaker who never gave up, DiStefano was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic kidney cancer in February 2019.  After learning of the diagnoses, DiStefano created the Dezy Strong Foundation as a way to help cancer patients "have positive mental well-being." Following its creation, …

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by Kathy Reakes
Obituaries
Michael Bowler, State Champion Lacrosse Coach At Rocky Point HS, Dies Michael Bowler, State Champion Lacrosse Coach At Rocky Point HS, Dies
Michael Bowler, State Champion Lacrosse Coach At Rocky Point HS, Dies A state champion high school lacrosse coach on Long Island is dead at 72. Michael P. Bowler, who has lived in Port Jefferson Station for nearly five decades and coached the Rocky Point High School varsity lacrosse team for 47 years, died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan following a battle with leukemia on Sunday, Dec. 1, his family announced. After starting the Rocky Point lacrosse team, Bowler made it to the top of the mountain when the team won the 2008 state championship with the Eagles. Off the field, Bowler taught social studies for 12 years before being promote…

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by Zak Failla