Faith Her Bedrock, Church Her Home

She was a woman of faith, a devout Irish Catholic whose

life centered around her religion, friends and family said.

Eileen Tosner, 73, washed and folded the linens at the Lynbrook church she

attended all her life. She clung to the rosary beads and prayer cards that she

kept with her at all times. She faithfully attended the morning Mass at Our

Lady of Peace Church each day.

So there she was yesterday morning, sitting, alone, in one of the front

pews where she always sat, when a fatal bullet struck her in the head.

Friends and family tried to make sense yesterday of how the doting mother

and grandmother whose unwavering faith in God came to an end in the very place

she felt most comfortable.

"I'm sure that would have made her happy, that that's where she died," said

her daughter-in-law Mary Beth Tosner, 46, of Wantagh. "She was wonderful, a

saintly person."

Tosner's husband of more than 50 years, Frank Tosner said, "She went to

church religiously every day. She was a very religious person." He was too

distraught to say more.

A lifelong Lynbrook resident, Tosner was a quiet woman who was known for

her kindness and generosity. "She was the type of person who would help

everyone," said her nephew, Victor Tosner Jr., 49, who witnessed the shooting

yesterday.

Despite her age, the petite, bespectacled woman who had a pacemaker was

very active. Until two years ago, Tosner took care of other senior citizens as

a companion and helper. She worked at her church, she socialized with her many

friends at weekly meetings at Lynbrook's senior citizens center and she

volunteered at the local VFW Post 2307, cooking hamburgers and brewing coffee

for Sunday bingo games.

Yet Tosner's rich life was punctuated by tragedy. She had a brother and

sister who were paralyzed after separate accidents. Two of her five children

died of cancer, one son eight years ago, another two years ago.

"With all of the tragedy she has had with her family, she never questioned

why," said her daughter-in-law Mary Beth Tosner, whose husband, Tom, died two

years ago. "She had tremendous faith."

Maria Guerrera, Tosner's next-door neighbor of 43 years, said she saw her

last night when she was taking out her garbage.

"She asked me about my grandchildren, and I asked about hers," Guerrera,

63, said. "I asked about the ... [youngest] baby in Florida. She said she was

doing beautifully."

The two chatted briefly about the memorial to the Twin Towers.

"She said it was a wonderful thing but terrible, too, because of what

happened," Guerrera recalled. "We talked about worrying about our grandchildren

and what they are going to do with this world that's so bad ... "

Guerrera recalled summer evenings with Tosner, the old friends chatting

about their children and grandchildren on the porch and taking walks with

Tosner's beloved French poodle, Tiffany.

"We were like family," she said with a sigh.

Friends and family members yesterday said their one consolation was that

Tosner's life ended instantaneously and in the place she loved most, her House

of God.

"You know how it is in the Catholic faith," said her brother-in-law Victor

Tosner Sr. "If you die in church, you go straight up to the pearly

gates."