Speaking to hundreds of mourners on Thursday, the daughter of slain Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner delivered a tearful eulogy as her mother was laid to rest after she was shot to death in the lobby of her New York City office building earlier this week.
« My mom was like my rock, » the 14-year-old told the congregation at Central Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan, according to the New York Post.
LePatner was gunned down in the lobby of 345 Park Avenue on Monday after a man opened fire inside the office building, killing four people before taking his own life.
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« I went over this scenario a thousand times in my head, and I only thought it would happen when I was older, » the teen said.
The heartfelt tribute continued, with LePatner’s tearful daughter describing her anguish.
« I never imagined this happening when I was 14, » she said. « It’s just unimaginable that this actually happened. I keep thinking it’s a prank or like a lucid dream, and that someone’s going to jump out and say, ‘Ha, ha. It was all a joke.’
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The 43-year-old and her husband, Evan LePatner, have two children together. The pair met at Yale University, according to the New York Post.
« How does the husband of a giant like Wesley possibly capture her in a short eulogy? » he asked mourners.
« There’s a huge, gaping Mount Everest-sized hole in my life right now, » the grieving husband said. « I know everyone here has different-sized versions of it from her loss. »
LePatner worked as the chief executive officer of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, according to the company’s website.
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« It is overwhelming and awesome all at once, » her husband said. « It speaks to the supernatural abilities Wesley had and the way she made the world better for all of us. »
LePatner’s father, Larry Mittman, remembered that his newborn daughter seemed « to have the most intelligent eyes that I have ever seen. »
« I held Wesley in my arms with these two huge eyes, looking not only at me, but looking around the delivery room, » Mittman said. « And it was almost like a periscope circling the room. »
LePatner previously served on the UJA-Federation of New York board with Merryl Tisch, the mother of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who referred to LePatner as her « beautiful friend » at a vigil earlier this week, the Post reported.
Three additional victims – NYPD Police Officer Didarul Islam, security guard Aland Etienne and a Rudin employee – were also remembered at services throughout the city following their deaths.
LePatner’s daughter spoke about the scope of her loss, telling those gathered, « Every time I hear the doorbell ring I think it’s her, and I get excited. I just miss her so much. »
Source link : https://www.foxnews.com/us/nyc-shooting-victims-daughter-delivers-tearful-eulogy-funeral-never-imagined-happening
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Publish date : 2025-08-01 22:58:00
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