Funeral for 'vivacious kid' Susan Giovanniello, 19-year-old EMT who died after line-of-duty emergency

Describing her as a shining light with a bright future, more than 100 mourners gathered Thursday morning at St. Rocco Roman Catholic Church in Glen Cove to pay their final respects to Susan Giovanniello, the 19-year-old volunteer EMT who died suddenly on Monday.

Family members, first responders and local officials assembled in the church as her older sister delivered the first remarks.

“I had a built-in best friend," said her sister, Jessica, who is also a Glen Cove EMT. “We always came to each other, whether questions about school, EMS, life, to rant, or to check on whether what we write sounded OK." 

All the pews at the church were filled, some mourners comforting each other and fighting back tears as they remembered the teen.

Officials said Giovanniello came home after an overnight EMS shift Sunday morning and suffered “a life-threatening medical emergency.”

Her Glen Cove EMS co-workers responded and took her in critical condition to Glen Cove Hospital, where she died the next day, officials said.

Her official cause of death has not been determined, authorities said.

Giovanniello became a member of the Glen Cove EMS Explorer system at the age of 16 and was dedicated to her community, officials said.

Anthony Jimenez, a former chief of Glen Cove’s Volunteer EMS Corps, described Giovanniello as a “vivacious kid” who was like a child to him. He knew her since her time as an Explorer.

“She was like the leader of the pack,” Jimenez said after the service. “Everybody kind of followed her example.”

Jimenez said that he would often hear that she would take command of a scene, if no superiors were present. She'd give directions to the younger volunteers and took advice as well.

“She was an incredibly well-loved young lady,” Glen Cove Schools Superintendent Maria L. Rianna said after the Mass. “She was a phenomenal student and had a great future ahead of her. She was kind and caring.'

Before the Mass, Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck lauded Giovanniello’s commitment to her community, especially during her time with the Explorers.

“While high school students were out having fun and doing wild things, she was devoting herself to caring for others,” the mayor said. “ … She never failed to impress with her service. She was just a wonderful young lady.”

Panzenbeck said she had stood alongside the family since they were at the hospital and now while they're grieving.

“We are a community that is grieving,” Panzenbeck said.

At a wake held at the Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home on Franklin Avenue in Glen Cove on Wednesday, family, colleagues and officials paid their respects to the young EMT. Giovanniello was described as someone with a bubbly personality whose "smile could light up a room." 

After the funeral Mass, family, friends and first responders followed as Giovanniello’s coffin was taken by a Glen Cove EMT ambulance for burial at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury.