Glen Cove EMT Susan Giovanniello 'could light up a room with her smile,' mourners at her wake said

Her smile.

That’s what friends, classmates and colleagues said they remember most about Susan Giovanniello, the 19-year-old volunteer EMT who died suddenly Monday after a line-of-duty emergency.

“[Susan] was like if a ray of sunshine were a person. She could light up a room with her smile,” said former classmate Abigail Levy, 19, after attending Giovanniello’s wake at Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home on Franklin Avenue in Glen Cove on Wednesday afternoon.

Levy said Giovanniello earned valedictorian honors when they graduated from EMT school at Northwell’s Center for Learning and Innovation. Her sister, Jessica, also is a Glen Cove EMT, officials said.

Giovanniello came off an overnight EMS shift Sunday morning when she suffered a work-related medical emergency at home. Her Glen Cove EMS co-workers responded and took her in critical condition to Glen Cove Hospital, where she died early Monday, officials said.

First responders and elected officials from across the county, including former U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi, braved Wednesday’s chill and rain to pay their respects to someone with dreams of becoming a doctor.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman called it a “very sad day … losing such a young person that contributed so much.” To honor Giovanniello, flags are flying at half-staff across Nassau County on Blakeman’s orders. 

Giovanniello’s life was all about service and community, said Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck, who was with the Giovanniello family when the fallen EMT was rushed to the hospital. 

“As a very young girl, she was dedicating herself to the care and service of others,” Panzenbeck said, referring to when Giovanniello joined the Glen Cove EMS Explorer program when she turned 16.

There, the would-be EMT met Glen Cove EMS Chief Robert Picoli, who said that in just a few years he saw Giovanniello develop into a first responder who was eager to help, willing to learn and “great with people.” 

“It was always calming to know you had someone like her there. Somebody who was able to see the positive in things and lift the spirits in the room,” Picoli said.

Alex Vidal worked alongside Giovanniello on a few shifts at Glen Cove, and called her smile “contagious.” 

“She was the sweetest person I ever met,” Vidal said, recounting how Giovanniello would wake her up if she had fallen asleep and ask to go for a Starbucks run. Vidal told Newsday Giovanniello wanted to become an OB-GYN. 

“She had such a bright future ahead of her. It’s such a shame," Vidal said.

Glen Cove EMS supervisor Christopher Demetropolis, who, like Picoli, met Giovanniello when she started as an Explorer, said she was a voracious learner who was “a model provider” who was “compassionate, caring, and just an excellent person to want to be with and know as a friend.” 

When asked about Giovanniello’s smile, Demetropolis said: “Her smile and her laughter will radiate throughout the building for many, many years.”

Giovanniello’s line-of-duty funeral service begins Thursday morning with Mass at St. Rocco Roman Catholic Church at 10 a.m. followed by burial at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury.