STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Brian Walling, 46, was doing what defined him \u2014 helping others \u2014 when his life suddenly ended Nov. 10 as he prepared his friend\u2019s home for the opening day of hunting season. <\/p>\n
When the longtime Staten Islander, a husband and father of three young children, wasn\u2019t answering his phone or texts from his friend\u2019s Pine Bush, New York, home, his wife, Joyce Lucchese Walling, knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it wasn\u2019t right,\u201d she recalled with sadness, explaining she expected him to be on his way home to Scotch Plains, New Jersey, to attend hockey with his son. \u201dI was sending messages and he wasn\u2019t replying. My son had hockey, and he would never miss it, ever.\u201c <\/p>\n
Not long after, a fire commissioner answered Walling\u2019s phone and delivered the tragic news. He had been discovered alone in the home, likely the victim of a sudden health episode. <\/p>\n
And for now, Lucchese Walling, a stay-at-home mom to Liam, 12, Lyla, 10, and Declan, 7, is grief stricken and a bit terrified about the costs of raising a family alone.<\/p>\n
\u2018Best person I ever met\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBrian was the best person I have ever met,\u201d she said of her husband of nearly 19 years. \u201dThat\u2019s why my heart is broken, for me and mostly my kids. He would give anyone the shirt off his back.”<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also extremely grateful, she said, for the outpouring of support she\u2019s received from Staten Island and New Jersey friends, many of whom have been close to Walling since elementary school at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Huguenot and Monsignor Farrell High School in Oakwood.<\/p>\n
Liam\u2019s hockey team families have also shown full support, as have the hundreds of friends Walling met and helped along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the type of person who wanted to see everyone succeed. If you got a promotion at work, if a kid got on a good hockey team … all he wanted to do was hear good things, and if he could help, he would,\u201d his wife recalled. <\/p>\n
As the vice president of youth hockey for Scotch Plains-Fanwood Ice Hockey, Walling had formed and coached spring hockey teams and looked for every opportunity to grow the sport he loved. This fall, his efforts resulted in the community\u2019s first ball hockey program.<\/p>\n
A graduate of St. John\u2019s University, Walling was a construction site supervisor, and used his skills to help family and neighbors with household repairs, chores, anything they needed, his wife said.<\/p>\n
Overwhelmed by the support, and the more than 1,000 people who showed up to pay respects at his recent visitation, Lucchese Walling said she can\u2019t help thinking that these acts of kindness are just what her husband would be doing for another in this situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would pick up kids, take them to practice, take them out of the house, distract them any way he could,\u201d she said through tears.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m extremely grateful\u2019<\/p>\n
One great friend, Colleen Gialanella, has organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to help Lucchese Walling and the children face their uncertain financial future. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely grateful\u201a” Lucchese Walling said, noting that her husband was the breadwinner, and she focused on the home. \u201dHe took care of all that.”<\/p>\n
Now, she said, worries about finances and health care are overwhelming.<\/p>\n
Her husband, a youth hockey coach for Union Thunder and basketball coach for the Scotch Plains Recreational League, grew up in Annadale. His wife is from South Beach. <\/p>\n
The two met at a Forest Avenue bar, and went fishing in Brooklyn on their first date, Lucchese Walling recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually said to my friend, \u2018What do you wear fishing?\u2019\u201d she recalled with a laugh. \u201dHe caught a fish \u2014 and I caught a bigger fish.”<\/p>\n
As their love grew throughout their marriage, she said it was obvious there was nothing he wouldn\u2019t do for his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom cold days in hockey rinks to long days in Disney World, there was nothing Brian wouldn\u2019t do to bring joy to his family,\u201d reads his obituary on the website of the Memorial Funeral Home in Fanwood, New Jersey.<\/a><\/p>\n Walling was also known for his sharp Irish wit and fierce loyalty, friends remembered.<\/p>\n To contribute to the fundraiser, visit gofundme.com.<\/a><\/p>\n Funeral arrangements took place Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. Walling is also survived by his sister, Alexis Walling, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Brian Walling, 46, was doing what defined him \u2014 helping others \u2014 when his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-48495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}