Residents remember a true 'hometown hero'

Date: 7/11/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn and Natasha Clark

Reminder Publications



EAST LONGMEADOW - The phrase "hometown hero" is used often when describing those who make great strides in their communities, but the phrase took on a new meaning when applied to Army Sgt. Mark Ecker II.

Ecker, an East Longmeadow native, was a passenger in a car being driven by 21-year-old Stephanie Ortiz of Lawrence that went out of control and landed in a drainage gully in the southbound lanes just north of Exit 45 off Interstate 93 on July 10. Ecker was thrown from the vehicle and was later pronounced dead at Lawrence General Hospital.

"It's a shock," Tom Morrissette, former selectman and planning board member, said. "There is no other word to put it."

Morrissette said he is a friend of the Ecker family and that his son and Mark Ecker went to school together.

"He was a hometown hero," Morrissette stated. "The town has rallied behind him many times. Losing him is a huge loss to the community. He was well-loved by many people for his courage and what he's done for our country."

Ecker served in two tours in Iraq. He lost both his legs below the knees during his second tour due to an improvised explosive device.

"I was totally lost after I heard what happened," Selectman Jim Driscoll, a close friend of Ecker's, told Reminder Publications. "[After I talked with his parents and my priest], the only resolution I came to was that God really wanted Mark with him. He was a really remarkable young man, absolutely and truly a hero."

Ecker was selected earlier this year by the non-profit Homes For Our Troops to receive a brand new, specially designed home. Voters approved the donation of land to build this home at the Annual Town Meeting this spring.

"We dedicated that land to him," Driscoll said. "I think we should dedicate a beautiful memorial to him there." He added that he would host a Special Town Meeting to get approval to do so from residents.

"We can't find the words to express our sadness," Vicki Thomas of Homes For Our Troops said. "You become intimately involved with [each veteran's] life. At Homes For Our Troops, we become like family. It's just horrible [to have lost Mark]. The town needs to take the time to mourn, and right now we're mourning with the Ecker family."

The organization posted condolences on its Web site, www.homesforourtroops.org.

John Romito, of East Longmeadow's well-known delicatessen Romito & Sons, lowered the flag that flies in front of his business to half-mast the day after the tragic loss.

Romito has been a big supporter of Ecker and most recently was promoting the Sept. 25 "Sgt. Mark Ecker Benefit Golf Tournament" to help support the veteran. Still stunned by Ecker's sudden passing, he tried to find the right words to express what he was feeling.

"It's just ... why?"

He said what is most important is that everyone knows what a good person Ecker was and how great of an attitude he had even after going through what he did.

"He never regretted what happened. He moved forward," Romito said. "Everyone who met him, they were just taken by him."

Public calling hours for Ecker will take place July 17 from 3 to 8 p.m. in the East Longmeadow High School auditorium. His funeral service will start at 11 a.m. on July 18 on the football field at the high school. In case of inclement weather, the services will take place in the auditorium. A reception will follow the service, and area restaurants are invited to join to help defray costs. Those interested should contact Romito at 525-6882.

A private family viewing will be taking place on July 20 at Forastiere Smith Funeral Home, 220 North Main St., East Longmeadow, at 10:15 a.m., and the public is invited to join the motorcade afterward as Ecker is taken through Longmeadow and into Agawam to be buried at the Massachusetts State Veterans' Cemetery, 1390 Main St. in Agawam.