Greenburgh Seeks Support for Family of Ex-Dispatcher Who Died from COVID
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By Rick Pezzullo
The Town of Greenburgh has created a GoFundMe page to support the children of former town police dispatcher Frank Cavaliere who died in February at the age of 53 of complications from COVID-19.
Cavaliere, who resided in Hopewell Junction, was a dedicated and well-liked dispatcher for almost 29 years.
“Frank always put others first. He put his own life at risk to work during this pandemic,” said Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. “He took calls from others who were affected by COVID who may have survived the virus that ultimately took his life. He did so to support his children and to make sure all their needs were met. He is no longer here to do this.”
Feiner said Cavaliere worked more than 57 hours of overtime between December 25 and 31, 2021 to cover for department members who had contracted the Omicron variant of COVID-19. During that time, Cavaliere was exposed to employees who had subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.
On December 31, Cavaliere returned home from work and was coughing violently. He was admitted into the hospital on January 8, 2022 and placed on a ventilator on January 23. His kidneys failed on January 25 and he died on February 5.
“Frank was a dedicated public servant. As a police dispatcher, he made sure that those who needed services of our Greenburgh Police Department received them. His efforts saved many lives,” Feiner stated. “He was always available to help the police when they needed his assistance – in the two weeks before becoming ill with COVID he worked well over 100 hours, pulling double shifts most days, and sometimes averaging only four hours of sleep. He lived an hour away from work. But, always put the town and our residents first.”
Cavaliere is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two children, Ashley, 14, and Zackary, 11. He loved listening to Ashley sing and play keyboard, and he loved playing and watching football with Zackary. On his days off from work, he would do Bible study with his family.
Anyone who wants to make a donation can visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cavalierechildren. To date, more than $5,000 has been raised.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
