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Mount Vernon city worker hurt while trimming tree dies from injuries
A Mount Vernon public works employee hurt on the job this week has died from his injuries, the city announced.
Juan Peralta Sr. passed away Friday, June 20, three days after undergoing emergency surgery following an accident Tuesday morning while he was trimming a tree near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Fifth Street.
"This is a devastating loss for the Mount Vernon team, the Peralta family, and our community," said Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard in a news release issued by the city. "His work ethic and passion for this work, his family, and this community were exceptional. He will be sorely missed."
Peralta had more than five decades of experience as an arborist and horticulturist, working for 20 years at the New York Botanical Gardens and for 35 years for Alpine Tree Service.
He became a part-time laborer in the Department of Public Works more than a decade ago, then became a motor equipment operator and then a tree-trimmer, always known for his reliability, humility and dedication to the community, the city said in the release.
Former Mayor Richard Thomas issued a statement calling Peralta a "quiet giant".
Thomas said Peralta came to the city from the Dominican Republic in 1968 "with nothing but love for his family, strength in his back, and a deep hope for a better future."
"He found that future in Mount Vernon, and helped build it for the rest of us," Thomas wrote. "He worked with care, dignity, and a quiet pride that never sought recognition but always earned respect."
Thomas said Peralta's legacy of community service was best seen in his son's progression through the Mount Vernon Fire Department. Two years ago Juan Peralta Jr. became the city's first Hispanic deputy fire chief.
He said the younger Peralta "stands as living proof of what every parent dreams of, that their child might rise higher, serve greater, and live a life even fuller than their own. That is the American Dream. That is the Mount Vernon story."
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mount Vernon NY mourns death of Juan Peralta Sr. after work accident
