Hundreds Gather in Sleepy Hollow to Honor UN Diplomat Killed in Haiti

On the same day that rescue operations were suspended in Haiti, Luiz Carlos da Costa was laid to rest in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Da Costa, a long-time Pocantico Hills resident, was the UN Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti – the second most senior UN official in the country. He was confirmed as a casualty of Haiti's 7.0 earthquake on Jan. 16.

Sleepy Hollow was filled on Saturday with hundreds of co-workers, relatives and friends who attended da Costa's funeral at the Church of St. Teresa of Avila.

"He was a hero for many," said the UN Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly, Franz Bauman. "The way the church was so full, it's a real testament to his life and work."

Sleepy Hollow police estimated that over 600 people attended the funeral, making it one the largest to ever take place in the village. Inside the church it was standing room only, people packed into the aisles and out into the hallway.

All agreed that they were there to honor a man whose kindness, spirit and dedication to humanity were unparallelled.

"In some way, we have all been touched by the character of one man and his hope for humanity," Rev. Joseph Dietz said during the ceremony. "We can take many lessons from him."

Da Costa's body arrived in Sleepy Hollow on Saturday after a state ceremony in Brazil, his country of birth, on Thursday. He was the highest ranked Brazilian in the UN.

Da Costa, 60, had a distinguished career in humanitarian service since joining the UN in 1969. He served around the world; his most recent posts included Liberia, Kosovo and New York. Da Costa was one of the leaders of MINUSTAH, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. He was appointed to the position by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2006.

During the ceremony, da Costa's daughter, Marianna, spoke about how she used to resent the fact that her father would be away from home for long periods of time. That changed when she was stopped in an airport by a stranger, and was told to thank her father for what he had done for the people in Liberia.

"From that day on I never felt any resentment, only pride, because he was making the world a better place," she said.

Da Costa's second daughter, Anna Maria, spoke of how tough it had been waiting for news of her father's fate after the earthquake.

"We were all waiting and hoping for a miracle," she said. "Then I realized he was our miracle, and asking for two miracles would be almost impossible."

"He will forever live in our hearts and in the hearts of many people around the world," she said.

Draped in the blue and white colors of the UN flag, da Costa's body was brought out to the hearse that would take him to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery for burial.

Bauman, who was recruited into the UN by da Costa in 1983, watched as the hearse readied to pull away.

"It's hard to see the UN flag draped over a casket," he said. "Especially here, for such an amazing person."