Family, Friends Mourn Loss Of Uncle Carl"

Dozens of friends and family members lined Ponquogue Avenue in Hampton Bays on Tuesday afternoon, outside the J. Ronald Scott Funeral Home, to pay their final respects to Carlo Petrusa, the man who most knew best as “Uncle Carl.”

A resident of the hamlet for 26 years before moving to Riverside this summer, Mr. Petrusa died on Friday afternoon at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue, hours after he was shot while standing outside a Hampton Bays nightclub.

He was killed five days after his 64th birthday, and Suffolk County Police Department Homicide Squad detectives are still searching for his killer.

Mr. Petrusa, who often worked as a bodyguard for celebrities while they were out visiting the Hamptons, was well known in local clubs and often worked the door of the Canoe Place Inn when it housed the C.P.I. and, later, The White House nightclubs. He was not working on the morning of his death, friends said.

“He was as close to a family member [as] you could get without being blood,” said James Vlahadamis, a close friend of the victim and whose family owns Dream Nightclub, where Mr. Petrusa was shot in the early morning hours of October 29. Mr. Vlahadamis’s family also owns the Hampton Bays Diner on Montauk Highway, where he said Mr. Petrusa would often eat at least one meal a day.

Mr. Vlahadamis added that his father, Frank Vlahadamis, was like a brother to Mr. Petrusa. “He was an amazing person,” the younger Mr. Vlahadamis said of Mr. Petrusa.

Mr. Petrusa was born on October 24, 1956, to Guido and Evelyn Petrusa in Flushing, Queens. He attended public school in Queens and, following graduation, began working as a bartender and security guard before landing a job as captain of the State Supreme Court Uniformed Court Officers. He retired in the mid-1980s and moved to Hampton Bays, where he lived up until this summer, according to Mr. Vlahadamis.

Mr. Petrusa recently sold his condominium on Springville Road so he could move to MacLeods’ Mobile Home Park on Riverleigh Avenue in Riverside. According to Mr. Vlahadamis, who considered Mr. Petrusa to be a member of his family, he just recently finished renovating his new home.

When he wasn’t working, Mr. Petrusa could often be found at the Hampton Bays Diner, where he was a regular, according to Janet Briody, the restaurant’s manager.

“He was well loved and well known. He had more friends than anyone could imagine,” said Ms. Briody, who added that Mr. Petrusa had his own special seat at the diner’s counter. “He’s been going to the diner for around 28 years. It was like his family. He didn’t have a big family that lived nearby. Everybody called him ‘Uncle Carl.’”

Mr. Petrusa worked as a bodyguard for celebrities who were visiting the Hamptons, according to Edward Burke Jr., a Southampton attorney who occasionally would hire Mr. Petrusa for security purposes. Mr. Petrusa was hired by celebrity publicist Lizzie Grubman during her reckless driving trial in 2002, and he also guarded a number of celebrities, including Prince and Billy Joel.

“He was always in the community,” said Mr. Burke, noting that he first met Mr. Petrusa at the Hampton Bays Diner. “[He was] extremely reliable, very prepared and extremely good. He was a wonderful person to work with.”

For Theresa Fontana, who said she spoke to Mr. Petrusa on the phone every day for 18 years, the loss of her Uncle Carl has left an enormous void in her life.

“Carl and my father [Duckie Fontana] were friends back in the city [and] when I moved to the Hamptons, part of the deal was that he would take me on as his niece,” said Ms. Fontana, whom Mr. Petrusa always referred to by her nickname, “Bubbles.”

Ms. Fontana, who owns The Lily Pad consignment store in Quogue, said she last saw Mr. Petrusa the day before his death. “He came into my store to bring me my Halloween present—two plush animals, a witch and a frog,” she said.

She added that both she and Mr. Petrusa sometimes worked at the same clubs, including Dream Nightclub when it was under different management. They also worked at Origin nightclub in Farmingdale and, in the summer of 2009, worked security detail for pop singer Fergie when she stayed at the Inn at Quogue prior to performing at the Coliseum nightclub in Hampton Bays.

“Carl Petrusa loved the club scene and his friends,” Ms. Fontana said. “He died protecting them.”

Ms. Fontana said Mr. Petrusa knew Shawn Badgett, the other man who was shot and injured outside the Dream Nightclub on Friday morning, but they were not close friends.

Michael Pam said he worked with Mr. Petrusa at Summers Beach Club on Dune Road in Hampton Bays, where the two met nearly 18 years ago.

“The world lost a great man,” Mr. Pam said after attending his friend’s wake on Tuesday. “He had a heart of gold. He’d go out of his way for everyone.”

He said Mr. Petrusa would often bring coffee to those working security with him at local clubs. “He’d always stop and to see how everyone was doing,” he added.

Ms. Fontana said Mr. Petrusa simply loved the club scene, noting that it was not unusual for him to be out until the early morning hours as he was on the day he was shot. She also recalled what would turn out to be the last conversation she would ever have with him about the upcoming Halloween weekend.

“I encouraged him to lay low,” Ms. Fontana said. “I said you should be at home, in your fuzzy slippers.”

Mr. Petrusa is survived by his brother, Richard J. Petrusa, and his wife, Sally, of Honesdale, Pennsylvania; and two nieces, Kathryn Pirreca of Smithtown and Elizabeth Ryan of Port Jefferson. He also leaves behind three grandnieces, Madison Pirreca of Smithtown, and Emma and Kailey Ryan of Port Jefferson, and a grandnephew, Brett Pirreca of Smithtown.

The family received visitors on Tuesday, November 2, at the J. Ronald Scott Funeral Home in Hampton Bays. A burial mass was held at Sts. Phillip and James Roman Catholic Church in St. James on Wednesday, November 3, and burial followed later that day at Mount St. Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.