New York-Let it Be
A Family Field Note · Manhattan
Trials
Let It Be
A journey to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, where grief, family memory, and words of wisdom met beneath the largest roof we could give our love.
She did not want a large service. We chose Saint Patrick’s Cathedral because our love needed a room that size.
We made the trip to Manhattan for my mother’s funeral at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral—the great Gothic landmark at the center of American Catholic life.
Grief makes its own scale. A private loss can fill the largest public space and still ask for more room.
The Sacred Room
The largest roof we could give her.
Saint Patrick’s was not chosen for spectacle. It was chosen because love had exceeded ordinary dimensions.
The Family Return
A Few Good Reifs.
The last time the whole family gathered at the cathedral was for Dad’s service.
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Funerals collapse time. One service remembers another; one absence stands beside the next.
The cathedral already held the memory of my father’s service. Returning for Mom made the place part sanctuary, part family archive.
Remembering Dad
Edward Reif Obituary
Edward William Reif Born March 8, 1930, he grew up and lived most of his working life in Long Island, New York. He moved to Port Jefferson Station in August 1968. He served the public with distinction at the New York State Insurance Fund; promoting and educating a more secure and healthier work environment as a Senior Safety Engineer. He retired to South Florida in 1992.
Giving to many non-profit organizations and charities in the Roman Catholic Tradition, his most enduring contribution, however, was donating his time as a Little League baseball coach, a role he embraced, providing a positive impact on young lives. A gentle man and a gentleman, wonderful and well-known, he died with dignity May 15, 2007 with his family by his side. May his name be loved and remembered with respect forever. Safe in the arms of Jesus, in God's keeping. He will be sorely missed.
Surviving are his wife, Maria; his sons, Ed and Bob, of Indianapolis; daughter, Kathy from Los Angeles, and eight grandchildren, Truddie, Greta, Bree, Chase, Jonathan, Joshua, Jed, and Bryce; and his best friend Ralph Massetti.
The memorial services will be held at 10 p.m., Monday May 21 at St Patrick's Cathedral Church in Manhattan. An Air Force Korean War era veteran, he will be accorded full military honors later that day at 2 p.m. at Calverton National Cemetery. In Calverton, New York.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Boys Club of America, The Edward Reif Endowment, 287 E 10th Street, New York, NY 10009. Arrangements handled by Flanner & Buchanan Funeral Center - Lawrence.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Words of Wisdom
And in the hour of darkness.
The song supplied the language the room already understood.
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: let it be. And in the hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me. Let It Be · Memorial refrain