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Sweeping Industry News Bulletin |
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August 27, 2008 
Boat Racing Accident Claims Phil DeJanaWe regret to report that Phil DeJana died while racing his 37-foot catamaran off Long Island during the 'Battle of the Bay' race on Sunday, August 24, 2008.The death of Phil Dejana will be mourned by far more than his many friends in the sweeping industry. Phil, who was a principal in New York-based DeJana Industries, Inc., as well as a founding member of NAPSA, was killed in a boating accident on Sunday, August 24th, along with his friend, Kevin Graff. Wakes for Dejana occurred on August 26 and 27. On Thursday, August 28, 2008, Phil Dejana was laid to rest at Fairchild Sons Funeral Home on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset, NY., after a funeral Mass at St. Peter of Alcantara Church in Port Washington. The following article was submitted to us on Phil's behalf.Phil immigrated from Sardinia and built a thriving Port Washington business with his brother. Kevin Graff was born and raised in Port Washington, an electrician by trade. Both loved the water and speed, passions cut short by their fatal boating accident on the Great South Bay. As details emerged about the deaths of Phil Dejana and Kevin Graff, their friends and family yesterday spoke of two men united by boat racing and deeply rooted in their communities. For Peter Dejana, who worked with his brother Phil nearly every week for 40 years, the loss has been staggering. "He was not only my brother but my lifelong partner," said Peter, 68, at his Sands Point home. "He loved to triumph over odds that appeared to be designed to defeat him." The son of a laborer in the sand mines, Phil developed an interest in boating early, as the family of seven settled near the water on West Shore Road in Port Washington. As a teen, he also got a taste for racing, joining Peter at tracks to race cars and motorcycles. While Peter stopped racing 20 years ago, Phil continued, even after he had a mild heart attack in 2006. The Battle on the Bay powerboat race on Sunday - where his year-old 37-foot catamaran flipped as he and Graff sped at between 90 and 100 mph - was Phil's first race in at least a year, his brother said. "There were periods when he didn't race," Peter said. "I always bothered him about racing these boats." Phil's competitive streak was instrumental to the success of Dejana Industries, with roots in a landscaping business Peter started in the late-1950s, when he recruited Phil to cut grass and rake leaves. Eventually, they branched out into snow removal and street cleaning, establishing footholds in cities as far as Denver. Today, the company employs more than 100 people, according to business records. Despite his position as company vice president, Phil worked alongside his employees, said mechanic George Idoidze, 35. "We are sad because he was part of the team, although he was on the top." One of Graff and Dejana's Aero Express Race Team crew members, Ed Morgan, said the pair were veteran boaters who made safety a priority. Dejana had operated speedboats for more than 25 years and Graff for more than 10, Morgan said. Graff's sister, Mary Ann Gennusa, said the two "had been racing together a long, long time - as long as I can remember." "He loved racing," Gennusa said yesterday as she stood outside Graff's home. Pointing to the house next door, she said: "He was born and raised right here." Down the street, Graff's friend Jerry May, 46, said Graff "went doing what he loved to do, in a blaze of glory. "He loved living on the edge," he said. A funeral Mass is planned for 9:30 a.m., Thursday August 27, at St. Peter of Alcantara Church in Port Washington. Funeral services for Graff were not immediately available.
More coverage of this tragedy may be found by using this link. WorldSweeper.com's editor, Ranger Kidwell-Ross, offered the following comment upon learning of the sad news. "I first spoke to Phil in about 1988, when I chose DeJana Industries as one of the first sweeping contractors to feature when I founded American Sweeper magazine. Phil and the rest of the DeJana family were highly esteemed throughout the industry, as well as being very successful at what they did. In the intervening time period, that reputation has only grown. Although I didn't know Phil well on a personal level, his was a classic example of someone whose positive reputation preceded him wherever he went. And, we can take consolation that he died doing something he loved. Abraham Lincoln once said, 'It's not the years in your life that matters, but the life in your years.' To me, that sentiment is a fitting eulogy to the life of Phil DeJana." If you have a comment or memorial thought of your own that you'd like to leave here at WorldSweeper.com, please send it to us and we'll add it to the bottom of this page. |
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