Community Corner

Services For Eva Block Today

Coroner cites smoke inhalation as cause of death.

Funeral services for Eva Block, 21, of Woodbridge, will take place today at 1 p.m. at The Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home, 88 Beach Road Fairfield, with interment following at Or Shalom Cemetery, Derby-Milford Road in Orange.

Eva and her housemate, a fellow Marist College student, Kerry Fitzsimons, of Commack, Long Island, and a friend, Kevin Johnson, of New Canaan all were killed early Saturday morning when a fire broke out in the 99 year old rented home where the women lived off-campus.

Eva died of smoke inhalation, according to the coroner in New York. This information came out after police officially identified her on Sunday afternoon.

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The Poughkeepsie Journal stated, "Fairview Fire Chief Chris Maeder said when he and other firefighters responded to the 1:33 a.m. alarm about 1:37 a.m., the house was nearly engulfed in flames."

The home did have working smoke alarms. The Journal reported, "The chief said he could hear loud sounds coming from smoke alarms in the house when he arrived."

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After the fire, Marist postponed Sunday's men’s varsity basketball game and Monday’s women’s varsity basketball game out of respect for the victims, their friends and families.

On Sunday evening about 150 students and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil in the Marist College chapel to pay their respects to the victims, according to the Journal.

Late on Sunday, the Marist College website posted the following about Eva:

"As of Sunday afternoon, police have officially identified one of the three victims.

"She is Eva Block, 21, of Woodbridge Conn. Eva, a senior fashion design student at Marist, was a bright and creative designer, well liked by her classmates and respected by her teachers.

"Classmates and faculty members recall a dancer who loved fine arts and had a special interest in photography. Eva used her photography as inspiration for her designs and often printed her own fabrics for use in her creations.

"Eva had eclectic interests, all of which she brought to her work, which made her a young designer with tremendous potential. She will be deeply missed by the faculty and students of the fashion program and by the entire Marist community."

Memorial contributions may be made to N E D A (www.nationaleatingdisorders.org) or to Congregation Or Shalom, 205 Old Grassy Hill Road, Orange, 06477.

Shiva will be observed for the week (excluding Shabbat) at the home of Barbara Block in Woodbridge.

The investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing.


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