Michael McLoughlin, who lived with his family on West 12th Road in Broad Channel, was known as a man who would do anything for his neighbors. File Photo
Ask almost anyone on West 12th Road in Broad Channel if they knew Michael McLoughlin, and you will get more than a resounding yes: If you are lucky, you will get to hear the stories of his selflessness, of his humor, of his optimism and strength.
You will be told that after Hurricane Sandy almost completely destroyed his home, he stayed on the devastated block of West 12th Road, and every day he and his wife, Susan, would walk up and down their beloved street to check on neighbors’ houses that were left vacant after families were forced to seek refuge elsewhere after the storm.
McLoughlin was a light in a time when many felt helpless in the days and months after Sandy. Last Wednesday afternoon, that light went out when McLoughlin passed away at the age of 51, and those who loved the man they described as “salt of the earth,” said his memory will live on – in a West 12th Road that is stronger and more resilient, in a Broad Channel that never gives up, not even in the face of devastating disaster, in the faces of all those who knew him as someone who kept smiling despite the pain that life can bring.
“My everyday hero on West 12th Road, Michael McLoughlin, has joined the angels,” wrote Sophia Vailakis-DeVirgilio, who was McLoughlin’s neighbor and friend. “He was a hero to many on our street because he always offered his help in whatever was needed, even to his own detriment.”
Peter Mahon, of the West 12th Road Block Association, wrote in a moving tribute to his longtime friend that McLoughlin “sat down in his bedroom and quietly passed from this life at the young age of 51 when his heart stopped beating.
McLoughlin’s wife, Susan, found her husband, but despite efforts to resuscitate him, nothing could be done, Mahon said.
“For an individual who had so little, one could only be amazed by Mike’s sense of optimism and outgoing personality,” Mahon wrote on his blog, w12thrd.blogspot.com. “When you engaged him in conversation it was always about you and not him. Mike was the type of man who truly wore his heart on his sleeve.
“It is said that a bad neighbor is a misfortune but a good neighbor is a blessing,” Mahon continued. “Mike was truly that blessing.”
And while McLoughlin was an easygoing and funny man, he would never back down when it come to protecting his neighborhood. On June 6, McLoughlin was attacked when he went to collect the mail at the house that Vailakis-DeVirgilio and her family called home before Sandy. When he heard a noise from the back of the house, he went to check it out and found himself face to face with a man exiting the back door with copper pipes that the individual had just stolen.
The man started hitting him, but McLoughlin managed to get him in a headlock, during which time another man attacked him from behind. Despite being outnumbered, McLoughlin managed to drive them from the house.
“He put himself at risk to defend mine and my husband’s property in the face of scrap-metal burglars who viciously assaulted him,” she wrote.
“He took care of his and his wife’s family, no only without hesitation, but with pride and joy,” Vailakis-DeVirgilio continued.
To help McLoughlin’s family in their time of need, individuals may go to to http://w12thrd.blogspot.com and click on the box in the top lefthand corner that says, “In memory of Mike McLoughlin.”
Services for McLoughlin will be held at O’Connor’s at 91-05 Beach Channel Dr. on Friday, Dec. 20 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday at St. Camillus Church.
By Anna Gustafson
