Wilson Joao Carvajal of Commack: NYIT graduate worked for PSEG
Wilson Joao Carvajal came to the United States at age 16 and earned a degree in electrical engineering. Credit: Angel Carvajal
Wilson Joao Carvajal was going places, and fast.
Five years after graduating from New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, he was married, had a son, and had bought a home in Commack. He recently got a promotion at work.
Last Christmas, he hosted the family at his new home for the first time.
“He said, ‘I want to do Christmas at my house for the first time,’ ’’ his sister, Katherine Carvajal of Deer Park, said. “We spent the entire day at his house. That was a special day for all of us.’’
“He had so much to live for, and he was just starting to realize his dreams,’’ his brother, Angel Carvajal of Deer Park, said.
Wilson Joao Carvajal died on June 4 at Stony Brook Hospital, due to complications from COVID-19, his brother said. He was 29.
He was born April 15, 1991, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and immigrated with his family to the United States in 2007, settling in Hicksville. He graduated from Hicksville High School and went to Nassau Community College. He then attended NYIT, where he completed a degree in electrical engineering in 2015.
On Oct. 8, 2015, he married Maria D. Lopez Gonzalez. The two met while working at the Fairway supermarket in Plainview. In 2016, he got a job with PSEG Long Island.
“He came here at 16 years old and worked so hard to learn the [English] language, to go to college, to graduate,’’ Katherine Carvajal said. “Everybody that came from the old country looked up to him. He worked so hard to do the American dream.’’
His brother remembered that Joao would come to the family home in Deer Park every Sunday to watch soccer, and root for his favorite team, the Ecuadorian club Emelec. His sister remembered just how excited he was to be a father — how everything his 2-year-old son Jacob did, he captured on video and shared with the family.
“We have so many videos,’’ she said.
Wilson Joao Carvajal is also survived by his parents, Elizabeth Morales and Wilson Jacobo Carvajal, and a sister, Anahi Carvajal, of Deer Park. A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for his wife and son.
A funeral service was held at the Michael J. Grant Funeral Home in Brentwood, and he was buried at Pinelawn Memorial Park cemetery.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
