In Memory of Jonathan Beneduce

Father raises money to honor dead son
by Anna Gustafson, Assistant Editor
02/10/2011 Nick Beneduce knew his son was dead before the police came to his door. Almost exactly one year ago, he was watching television and saw a news report that two people had been shot and killed in in a car in New Jersey. When the camera zoomed in on the car, Beneduce immediately recognized the 2007 Ford Explorer that his son, Jonathan Beneduce, 28, had spent a countless number of hours working on and which was now pierced with bullet holes. A year later, siting before an urn filled with his only son's ashes at his Howard Beach home, Beneduce said he is trying to channel a neverending sadness into something good — raising money for Jonathan Beneduce's favorite charity. "A couple months ago I started thinking of ways to keep his memory alive, and I wanted to raise money for Birthright Israel because he loved them," Beneduce said. "He went on a trip to Israel with them, and he was always talking about going back there. He loved learning about his heritage." Nick Beneduce is Italian, but his wife, Hope Beneduce, is Jewish. Birthright Israel provides 10-day trips to Israel, all expenses paid, for young Jewish adults. The father who said he will never stop grieving for his murdered son hopes to raise $3,000 for the group. The Ozone Park Kiwanis gave him $500 in memory of his son, and the Howard Beach Kiwanis gave him $100. Other friends and family have been donating money as well, and Beneduce said he has so far raised about $1,000. He plans to present a check to Birthright Israel on Feb. 18, the day Jonathan Beneduce was killed. "I've heard from a million people it gets easier, but it doesn't," Beneduce said. "I remember it like it was yesterday. This helps me focus on something good." Nicholas Kiriakakis, 25, a part owner and manager of the now closed Pearl Nightlife bar and restaurant on Bell Boulevard in Bayside was charged last year with killing Jonathan Beneduce, who grew up in Howard Beach and Ozone Park, and Michael Mirasola, 27, of Ozone Park, in Teaneck, NJ, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli. The purpose of the trio's trip to New Jersey last year is still under investigation but may be related to an illegal narcotic transaction, according to Bergen County prosecutors. Working to raise money for Birthright Israel has made life a little more bearable, he said. Still, a year after the murder, he said it hurts more than it is possible to describe when he thinks of his son, who his mother said was a "wise guy" who never failed to make people laugh. "My favorite memory of him is when he was 3-years-old, 4-years-old," Hope Beneduce said. "We were at Nathan's, and he gave a homeless man all the the food we had just bought there. He told the homeless man he'd sit with him while he ate it. He always did things like that."

I am collecting again to help keep my son's memory alive please help make checks payable to Birth Right Israel co Nick Beneduce po box 140082 Howard beach ny 11414 in subject put in memory of Jonathan Beneduce

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