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Crane Collapse Victim Laid To Rest

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Jun 3, 2008 7:45 pm US/Eastern

Crane Collapse Victim Laid To Rest

Funeral Held For Don Leo At Staten Island's 'Our Lady Queen Of Peace'

Reporting
Pablo Guzman
NEW YORK (CBS) ― A funeral was held on Tuesday for one of the two construction workers killed in Friday's Upper East Side crane collapse. Don Leo was given a sad farewell at Our Lady Queen of Peace on Staten Island.

The church was packed with hundreds of friends and family who made the trip to the emotional ceremony to honor Leo's memory and to stand with his parents, his siblings and his fiancee Janine Belcastro.

"This was not supposed to happen. His fiancee will miss him very much. We will never forget what a wonderful man he was," said Emily Donadc.

Leo and Belcastro had planned to marry in June. When she addressed mourners, everyone held their breaths:

"The sparkle in his eyes won me over. I felt safe and happy in his arms...He was strong and seemingly indestructible. We talked about starting a family right away," said Belcastro.

At that point, the fiancee broke down, along with everyone else in the church.

"I was particularly impressed by her strength to be able to share her memories, thoughts and her love in front of everybody," said family friend Ken Stark.

"You're looking to get married...and at the same time you're planning a funeral for somebody - and it's just like - your world is shattered in a matter of moments," his friend Ralph DeGrazio said.

Leo was the crane's operator, and fell from the machine's cab to his death. Another constrution worker, Ramadan Kurtaj, also lost his life in the May 30 crane collapse.

The body of Kurtak was flown to his native Albania on Monday.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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