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July 14, 2005
Peggy Rossi Memorial Service Slated for Saturday, July 16, 2005
by David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network
Huntington, WV (Special to HNN) – A memorial service for Margaret Ann "Peggy" Rossi, 55, Executive Coordinator of Hinton's REACHH–Family Resource Center, who drowned while swimming in the Pacific Ocean in El Salvador on Thursday, July 7, 2005, will be held in the Summers County Memorial Building here at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 16, 2005.
Peggy Rossi was born in New York City and attended Fieldston School in New York. She earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a masters of social work from West Virginia University. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her mother, Florence Rossi, of Washington, D.C. and two children: Zellie, 23, and Carlos, 20, of Sandstone.
HNN Editor David M. Kinchen received the following e–mail on July 13 from Rossi's husband, Jon Averill:
"Peggy drowned in the Pacific this past Thursday [July 7, 2005].
One half hour earlier she said it was the best trip we had ever taken.
We were at the Costa del Sol in El Salvador with our foster family (a 21–year relationship). We had gone for some long walks on the beach, swam the ocean and in the hotel pool, gotten to know others at the hotel, were having a wonderful time....Peggy especially happy playing with the kids.
I wanted to go for 10 minutes more in the ocean. Emerson, an 18–year–old Salvadoran and father of our foster daughter's baby, came also, as did Peggy. Peggy never went far in the ocean.
"The waves were different, but I did not read them well. Emerson (who often went to the beach) was diving under the oncoming foam, and I started following suit. We were going to be there maybe 10 minutes, ride a wave in. Suddenly, rather than being at our knees, the water was over our heads. I yelled to Emerson to head back. Then I felt his hand on my back and knew he was in trouble. We treaded water for God knows how long– sometimes he panicked and I had to push him away, then pull him back. I was wondering if we would make it or not.
"Then Peggy shouted, 'Emerson is in trouble!' and headed toward us. I waved her to go...but she kept coming and was swept in. My foot touched bottom just for a second, offering some sort of hope...but I had to leave Emerson and swim to Peggy. I reached her, tried to keep her head above water and get to shore. I finally dragged her up and people came running over...especially some fishermen who tried to help resuscitate her. I shouted for someone to find Emerson, but he had gone under. Whether through lack of knowledge or time, we failed to revive her. Then some faith healers asked to try, and I said yes. She was surrounded by Salvadoran women, three girls holding her hands, praying, chanting, but finally we let her rest. She looked like an angel.
"Then the incredible stress of contacting family, talking to the police, the coroner, the U.S. Embassy. Peggy was taken to San Vicente for an autopsy. Emerson was still gone.
"The rest of us sorrowfully returned to El Salvador. At 5 a.m. on Friday, July 9, 2005, Mirna (our foster daughter) and her sister Jessica went to the beach and rode a navy ship for four hours looking for his body. Emerson's mother was on the beach, where finally his body came ashore. He also was brought to San Vicente.
"Peggy was cremated in San Salvador, and I carried her ashes back with me on Monday, July 11, 2005.
"Emerson, after the recovery of his body and autopsy, was brought to a funeral home in Santa Tecla. His body was not prepared, but put in a closed casket. There was an all–night wake, with four 3–inch long candles burning around his casket. We talked and cried and had bits of nourishment and slept and cried. I left at 1 a.m., but Mirna, Roxanne (the mother), and Emerson's two younger siblings stayed the night.
"Saturday, Solvate (Mirna's sister) and her husband Luis took me again to the fancy funeral home where Peggy's body had been prepared, and we rode with her to the crematorium. I kissed her as she went in the oven, thinking of her pottery and a kiln rather than darker images.
"Then we were back to Emerson. The community pastor loaded us onto the back of a pickup. There were two other cars. We rode slowly through a light rain toward the cemetery. Nelderson Salvador (Emerson's 13–year old brother) and I steadied the cement cross that would mark the grave.
"We reached the cemetery and began to carry the casket between narrow spaces, weaving down slippery slopes between the graves of so many others. The six of us finally lay the box on the supports near the freshly dug grave. Mirna's family, the family of Emerson, were gathered and the minister began song and prayer. Both Roxanne and Mirna broke into screams and fainting, especially when the casket was finally lowered."
Jon Averill, 55, a Spanish/social studies teacher at Summers County High School, thanks everyone for their "tremendous" support in his time of grief. As I said in my obituary/story on Peggy's passing, she was a petite, gracious woman with a big heart, always thinking of others rather than herself. We will miss her; one thing about living in a small town and county is that residents often personally know people who've passed on. The passing of a person like Peggy Rossi leaves a void that will never be filled.
Related story:
Summers County Social Worker Peggy Rossi Dies in Drowning Accident in El Salvador
