Community Pays Tribute To Southampton Town Justice Court Officers

From the Scott Rothwell Funeral Home on Ponquogue Avenue in Hampton Bays to the firehouse in East Quogue, well-wishers, firefighters, friends and family lined the 4-mile route along Montauk Highway in tribute to Mark Sidor on Saturday afternoon, May 16. A chief court officer, Mr. Sidor was found dead in his office in Southampton Town Justice Court in Hampton Bays on the morning of May 11.

Mr. Sidor’s death came on the heels of the loss of another court employee. On May 5, Roxana Flores, a part-time Spanish-language interpreter, died from complications of coronavirus at the age of 47.

Mr. Sidor died, according to Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skrynecki, of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The scope of the tribute Saturday was unexpected, Mr. Sidor’s sister, Lori Sidor, said Tuesday. Family had gathered, keeping social distance, at the funeral home, she said, “and when we left, all the way from Hampton Bays to East Quogue, there was, I think I counted seven fire departments, just lined up on the side of the road, and parked and saluting. There were four cranes with four of those big flags. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

When the family arrived at the firehouse in East Quogue, still more firefighters lined Montauk Highway.

“They closed off Bay Avenue and the parking lot because they didn’t want a crowd, but people were allowed to stand across the street. … The community was there. It was simple, but heartwarming,” Ms. Sidor said.

Mr. Sidor’s coffin had been placed on top of an antique firetruck covered with a Town of Southampton flag, “and that’s how we brought him back.”

Members of East Quogue Fire Department saluted all the other departments as they left, and Father Mike Vetrano, the pastor of the Basilica Parish of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Southampton, offered a prayer.

A firefighter “last call” for Mr. Sidor came over the speakers and a bagpipe band played Amazing Grace.

“And then they pulled the truck into the firehouse and they closed the door and we left him there … It was a beautiful, beautiful service,” Ms. Sidor said.

Ms. Sidor recalled seeing an uncle from Aquebogue parked near Macy’s in Hampton Bays along the trip to East Quogue.

“People took that ride and sat in the car,” she said. “We didn’t know it was going to happen. They were all on the side of the road, and men and women were out there saluting. My whole family, we want to thank everybody who came out to show love and friendship and respect, we just say thank you. … It was really, really grand. …

“I knew he knew a lot of people,” she added. “I knew he was important to the community, but when you see something like that — it was very profound.”

Throughout the week, coworkers and friends reflected on Mr. Sidor’s impact on their lives.

“He was a class act. He ran the whole court for us for years,” observed Judge Ed Burke, who sat on the bench in Southampton from 1994 to 2000, and from 2005 to 2015.

A passionate chef, the judge recalled, “he ran the court and he ran the kitchen.”

The judge said that Mr. Sidor was a dedicated public servant and chef, who worked for the Burke family at the Waterside in Sag Harbor.

“He protected me in the court, and threw me out of the kitchen,” the judge remarked.

Among myriad undertakings for the court and community, Mr. Sidor ran a seafood festival in East Quogue each year.

The judge was disappointed that the strictures of the pandemic would keep him from offering a eulogy for his friend at Saturday’s funeral, but said maybe he’d get a chance if the festival goes forward this summer.

“When Mark passed away, he was here that morning to make sure every person who comes in here was safe,” Justice Barbara Wilson said, explaining that he and the town’s justices had planned to meet to discuss reopening the court as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to wane. “It’s going to be tough, opening those doors without him.”

Justice Wilson had insisted that Mr. Sidor, who worked in the court for over 36 years, train other officers.

“He trained every court officer, here and in [Southampton Village]. I wanted them to learn from the best,” she said.

“I worked with him as a judge, as a private attorney, when I was in the DA’s office, and as an intern,” Justice Wilson said.

When the court was under construction, she recalled, “Mark oversaw everything, to make sure it was safe for everybody. … He’s been everything over here.”

Mr. Sidor was born on September 2, 1963, in Riverhead. He was 56 when he died. His sister recalled his passion for cooking emerged at a young age growing up in East Quogue.

In the ninth grade at Westhampton Beach High School, he got a job at a local pizza place.

“He started out making pizzas, and by the end of the summer he was cooking dinners,” she recounted. Mr. Sidor worked at the pizzeria for three years, “then he worked at the Rendezvous with me. My Mom said he was a better cook than her. He was very talented and put his heart into it.”

A 1982 graduate of Westhampton Beach High School, he went on to attend the Suffolk County Police Academy, graduating in 1985. He began his career as a part-time police officer and later became a court officer for the Town of Southampton.

Throughout that time, for 35 years he was a member of the East Quogue Fire Department, elected chief and serving at the department’s helm from 1994-1995, a service that included battling the Sunrise Highway wildfires.

Mr. Sidor married his wife, Daryn, on September 6, 1992, at the Waterside. The couple raised three children — Alixandra McMahon of Bridgehampton, Courtney Sidor of Sag Harbor, and Lucas Sidor of East Quogue — and doted on two grandchildren Lawson and Waverly McMahon. His son-in-law, Steven McMahon, and his siblings Lori Sidor of Sag Harbor and Patrick Sidor of East Quogue, survive. He is predeceased by his parents, Michael and Patricia Sidor of East Quogue.

A procession of two fire trucks and an ambulance followed the vehicle transporting Mr. Sidor’s body from Hauppauge to East Quogue last Tuesday, his sister said. “We were all there for him, to welcome him back home.”

Ms. Flores, the part-time interpretor, had worked at the justice court for about 10 years, and was, according to Justice Wilson, “so sweet, kind, and nice.”

“She was just always smiling, and the work we do here is not always something to smile about,” she said.

“When people come here, and they are so nervous and so upset,” the judge pointed out, Ms. Flores and Mr. Sidor would greet them “and help you from the get go. If they don’t speak the language, they went right into Roxana’s hands, she was like an angel.”

Working as a translator is not an easy job, the judge explained. “You have to stand next to the person and translate to them objectively, repeating what they are saying, repeating what the judge is saying without any judgment. You have to really be a professional.”

A resident of Flanders, Ms. Flores came to the United States from Costa Rica when she was 17, according to a May 9 article in the Riverhead News-Review. At first, she worked cleaning houses on the East End.

Her son, Cesar, described her in the article as “the embodiment of the American Dream.” She was born on June 16, 1972, in Aserri, Costa Rica, and immigrated to the United States in 1990. She married her husband, whose name is also Cesar, in 1997.

Local defense attorney Melissa Aguanno-Walker launched a GoFundMe page to help the family, and within days, it surpassed its goal of $25,000.

“Roxana is not just a number to add to the lives lost due to this awful virus. She was a loving mother, wife, daughter, and friend to all she met,” Ms. Aguanno-Walker wrote on the page. “She loved her family more than anything and was immensely proud of her children.”

Ms. Flores is survived, in addition to her husband and son, by two daughters, Jasmine and Angela, ages 16 and 12.

“Roxana’s sense of humor and pure heart will be missed forever, but her memory will live on forever in the smile of her children,” Ms. Aguanno-Walker concluded.

Southampton Town Justice Deborah Kooperstein hired Ms. Flores as an interpreter nine years ago, and said she’d embraced the job, helping thousands in the Latino community over her tenure, according to the News-Review.

Each week, after a lengthy court session where hundreds of vehicle and traffic violations were processed, Justice Kooperstein would thank Ms. Flores. “I’d say, ‘Roxana, I couldn’t do it without you.’ And it was the truth.”