Floral Park boy mourned at funeral

Andrew Burrous was like a lot of boys in his Floral Park neighborhood. He played on a youth league baseball team. He was working toward merit badges as a Cub Scout. He also loved to read.

But Andrew was much more than that, the Rev. John O'Farrell told a standing-room-only crowd in Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in Floral Park at the boy's funeral Monday.

"Bright, inquisitive, friendly, always smiling," O'Farrell said, glancing at the coffin, draped in a cream-colored cloth. "Friends, many classmates, team players, members of Cub Scouts shared time with you. You made their world different and even happier."

The 9-year-old, who was struck and killed last week while riding his bicycle when a car jumped a curb, will live in the hearts and memories of those whose lives he touched, O'Farrell said as he celebrated the funeral Mass. O'Farrell likened Andrew to a character in author John Alessi's "The Brave Little Soul," who made the world a better place after his birth.

Andrew was killed Thursday night while riding his bicycle at Plainfield Avenue and Martha Terrace, just south of Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park. Police said no charges were filed against the 16-year-old driver, who apparently panicked when she saw a car in her rearview mirror approaching rapidly.

Among those attending the funeral were Rockville Centre diocese Bishop William Murphy, who delivered the final commendation, and Lutheran minister John Flack. O'Farrell said Flack prayed for Burrous in the ambulance as he was being rushed to the hospital.

O'Farrell noted that a series of traffic fatalities involving young people have struck the village, and that people have pointed out that children have been dying "too young, too soon."

"I add: too often," the priest said.

With William Murphy