Oceanside native killed in Connecticut massacre

'I feel like they got the story wrong: he was supposed to tackle the guy, take away his gun and save everyone'

Issue of August 6, 2010/ 26 Av 5770

By Michael Orbach

One of the victims of the Hartford Distributors workplace shooting in Manchester, Conn. on Aug. 3, a member of the Young Israel of Stamford, was a native of Oceanside. A day after the murders, friends recalled Louis Felder a”h as a big man with a bigger heart.

“He looked rough on the outside but he had a heart of gold, and he would help anyone in distress,” recalled Beverly Skolnick of Oceanside. Her family lived across the street from where Felder grew up. Skolnick said she considered Felder — known as “Big Louie” around the neighborhood — a second son.

Felder, who had just turned 50, was one of eight victims of a disgruntled employee, Omar S. Thornton, 36, who opened fire on coworkers after a disciplinary hearing at the warehouse, where Felder was director of operations.

“I feel like they got the story wrong,” said Zev Skolnick, Beverly’s son and a friend of Felder’s. “We know Louis. He was supposed to tackle the guy, take away his gun and save everybody.”

“He was indestructible,” echoed Shlomo Gottesman, another friend. “This couldn’t have happened to him.”

Felder attended the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach in elementary school and went to high school at Hillel, the school that in 1978 merged with HILI to become the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaways. As a 16-year-old, Felder coached his shul’s basketball team, despite being just three years older than his players. His mother drove him to the practices.

Skolnick remembered playing ball on the Felders’ grass court in Oceanside. Felder approached each game that he coached as a teaching moment. During one practice, Skolnick recalled, five members of the team began ribbing a teammate who was going to another high school. The boy became upset and left the court.

“Louis was incensed at the five other wise guys and brought him back and played two-on-five and proceeded to whip the five of us 13-year-old wise guys,” Skolnick said with a laugh.

Gottesman remembered a day when his brother was having a tough day at school and didn’t want to go to practice. Felder dragged him to the gym by his ankles.

“That was his way of cheering him on,” Gottesman explained. “ That was Louie: he was tough on the outside but he was a real softie on the inside.”

Skolnick said that one of his fondest memories was being woken up at midnight by Felder. He needed Skolnick to drive him to pick up Felder’s brother who had been injured at Camp Ta-Go-La in Monticello, NY. Skolnick protested that he had just gotten his driver’s license, but Felder was undeterred.

“He said you’re going, and we did,” Skolnick related. Felder was always there for everyone, he said. “He would go a million miles for you.”

Felder’s strength was legendary. According to Skolnick, once when Felder’s father, Marvin, was working under his car, the jack collapsed, trapping him under the vehicle. In an adrenaline rush, Felder managed to pick up the car to save his father.

After high school, Felder learned at Beit Midrash L’Torah (B.M.T.) in Jerusalem for two years before attending Queens College. His wife Helen, is from Far Rockaway. After their marriage, the couple moved to Connecticut where Felder began his own business.

“He became a successful businessman on his own without any assistance from anyone,” said Beverly Skolnick.

Felder was a dedicated member of the Young Israel of Stamford, where he davened regularly.

“He had this gruff exterior but he was very sensitive,” explained Rabbi Ira Ebbin, of Ohab Shalom in Merrick, who was the rabbi of the Young Israel of Stamford for five years.

“He was a staple,” Rabbi Ebbin recalled fondly. “He would come in at nine o’clock with his sweaters. He never wore a jacket, he always wore a sweater... He was a New Yorker, but deep down, he was a very sensitive, emotional person with a huge heart.”

Rabbi Ebbin recalled that his predecessor at the shul once taped a note to Felder’s seat that read: “Asur l’daber b’shas ha’tefilah’ (“It is forbidden to speak during davening”), which Felder removed. Rabbi Ebbin said that Felder held strong views.

“We’d clash, but I loved him very much,” Rabbi Ebbin said. “He loved his kids, loved his wife — adored his wife — and his wife adored him. They were just active, positive people.”

Felder, who dubbed Rabbi Ebbin the “holy one,” was always ready to help members of his community, including driving to the next town to help put up a Sukkah.

"Overall, he was just a very very good man," said Jeffrey Kilstein, who runs the youth program inside the Young Israel of Stamford. "It's just a great loss for the community and for Stamford."

Felder is survived by his wife, Helen, and their three children, Gabriel, 19, Samantha, 15,  and Stephanie, 13; and by his father, brother and sister.

Zev Skolnick said that Aug, 4, the day of Felder’s funeral, was the day that Skolnick’s own father passed away.

“Louis was always fond of him and somehow when my dad was sick at the end, Louis and Helen showed up at the hospital to say goodbye,” he recalled. “I can only wonder at the welcome they will give to each other in heaven.”