Montclair man, 22, who became a local hero during pandemic dies of COVID complications – NorthJersey.com
A Montclair man who became a local hero by pitching in when sanitation workers were hit with a COVID outbreak has died of complications from the virus.
Jordan Tassy, 22, a Montclair High School graduate who received an outpouring of community support after being hospitalized on March 15, died Thursday, according to councilman Peter Yacobellis.
Yacobellis had connected with Tassy on Facebook in early March after the young man offered to help collect recyclables from those who couldn’t make it to the center during the suspension of pickups.
“Jordan exhausted himself helping his neighbors, helping the town,” Yacobellis said. “He was just a lovely, lovely, lovely man.”
On recycling days, Tassy would work from “dawn to dusk” picking up from homes, restaurants and shops, seniors and the Human Needs Pantry, Yacobellis said. He charged a small fee, and Yacobellis raised private funds to reimburse the nonprofit.
“He’d just go back and forth all day, getting in line, dropping things off and going back and doing more pickups,” he said. “You can’t help but wonder, did he make himself sick by working so hard?”
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On March 15, Tassy tested positive for COVID; the next day, he was taken by ambulance to Hackensack Meridian Mountainside hospital with double pneumonia and put on a ventilator, according to a GoFundMe account started by his mother, Norma Tassy.
Within days, the account had met its original $10,000 goal; on Thursday night it stood at more than $46,000.
Mark Greene, one of more than 900 donors, posted, “I loved this kid, he was a very bright light and a joy to be around, my heart … is broken.”
Tassy, an only child, and his mother, Norma, whom Yacobellis calls “another angel of the community,” were active members of Montclair’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation. On Thursday, in a virtual address, co-Minister Anya Sammler-Michael mourned his death.
Though he’s only known Tassy for a month, Yacobellis said the loss has hit him hard. “People can have a sharp bite on social media; they want to know what the town can do for them,” he said.
“Jordan was someone who stepped up and said, ‘What can I do to help?’ It’s the same spirit of so many wonderful people and amazing organizations that have popped up during COVID, such as Montclair Mutual Aid. There is such generosity in this town and Jordan exemplified it.”
Yacobellis said that, as donations poured in, he and Norma Tassy made a new goal for Jordan: The excess money would be for Jordan’s future health and wellness.
“I was going to mentor him, get him on a healthier trajectory,” he said. “I was speaking to my gym about getting him a free membership.
“And then it all just fell apart in 12 hours. It’s all so sad. Now the money is going to his funeral expenses.”
Julia Martin covers Montclair for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: jmartin@gannettnj.com
Twitter: @TheWriteJulia