'Daddy is no longer here': Family mourns LI farmhand
Jairon Canahui, 30, a farmhand at Harbes Family Farm in Mattituck, was struck and killed last week while walking in Jamesport. In second photo, from left, Canahui's two sons in his home country of Guatemala, Rolando Canahui Ortiz, 8, and Yéferson Canahui Ortiz, 4. Credit: Harbes Family Farm; Roxana Ortiz
It was Father's Day weekend when East End farmhand Jairon Canahui last video chatted with his two young sons, who live in his native Guatemala. For two years, he had worked long days on Long Island to send money back home.
The boys, Yéferson, 4, and Rolando, 8, sent him songs for the holiday.
The weekend had barely ended in the early morning hours of June 19 when Canahui was walking in Jamesport and hit by a pickup-truck driver, the Riverhead police said. Canahui died two days after being run over, said his widow, Roxana Ortiz.
“The biggest is very sad, because his father was very good,” Ortiz, 28, said of Rolando, in Spanish through a translator.
“The little one says, ‘Mommy, now that my Daddy is no longer here, who is going to buy us milk?’ ”
Canahui was on Sound Avenue, west of Pier Avenue, at about 1:45 a.m. June 19 when the driver of a 2004 Ford pickup hit him, the police said. He was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center with serious injuries, according to the police.
Jillian Andersen, vice president of operations of the Harbes Family Farm, said Canahui had worked at the farm for about two years. The crash was about a half-mile down the road from the farm, she said.
“Our farm guys are grieving. They live with him. They eat with him. They go to work with him. So, it’s been pretty sad for them — for all of us,” she said, adding: “He was a very hard worker. Always showed up to work, always did the right thing. … The days are hot and long, and he always did a great job for us.”
In a news release sent hours after the crash, the Riverhead Town Police Department said the driver of the pickup had been traveling east on Sound Avenue before hitting a pedestrian. The driver, whom the police department has not named, stayed at the scene, the release said. The investigation was ongoing, the release said, but the crash “is not considered criminal at this time.”
The police did not disclose further details this week, including when and where Canahui died, the basis for its conclusions about the crash, or the driver’s speed.
The earlier release said that the pedestrian “was in the travel portion of the roadway.” There do not appear to be sidewalks nearby, according to Google Maps. A Newsday article in April reported that in certain parts of Long Island, poor or absent sidewalks and speeding drivers can make for perilous travel for pedestrians and cyclists.
At least 63 pedestrians were killed on Long Island last year — 44 in Suffolk County and 19 in Nassau — according to preliminary statistics for 2022 maintained by the Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research.
Canahui’s widow said their family is poor, and he was working to send money back home so they could build a house. Canahui would chat regularly by video with the boys, she said.
Jairon Canahui's widow, Roxana Ortiz, with their children, Rolando Canahui Ortiz, 8, and Yéferson Canahui Ortiz, 4, of Guatemala. Credit: Harbes Family Farm
Canahui’s family is struggling to pay to fly his body back to Guatemala for the funeral, Andersen said; the farm has begun a GoFundMe fundraiser. Andersen said she hopes Canahui’s body can be sent back this week.
He lived on the grounds with three other farmhands in a trailer, Andersen said, one of about 16 during the peak season.
“He did a lot for us. He helped with the planting. You know, harvesting our crops, harvesting sweet corn, helping plant the corn, helping maintain our vineyard, and then in the fall helped us a lot with our barnyard adventure area,” she said. “He would take care of the animals night and day. He would help us with the grounds. He would help us repair things that were broken.”
Andersen said the farm is in touch with his widow; a farm manager would this week be taking photos of the possessions Canahui left behind to ask what Ortiz wants sent back to Guatemala.
Farmhands like Canahui are shuttled to the farm’s locations in Jamesport, Mattituck and Riverhead, Andersen said.
“When the vineyard needs to be pruned, the guys go up there. When the apple trees need attention, they go take care of the apple trees, so just different seasons have different timings for things,” she said.
The Harbes Family Farm grows sweet corn, apples, peaches, pumpkins, and grapes, and has a vineyard along with an eight-acre barnyard attraction that draws families and children during the spring, summer and fall.
Andersen knew Canahui — his English was limited, she said.
“There is certainly a language barrier, but he was always very attentive, detail-oriented," Andersen said. "If he didn’t know what exactly I wanted him to do, we would find a translator, and he’s just very happy. Very smiley.”
With John Valenti
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
