The beloved Upper East Side doorman who died Thursday morning after slipping and falling down steps while shoveling snow was a “humble, very giving” church-going grandfather who loved his family, his devastated step-son told The Post.
Rogelio Aponte, 46, said that his relatives are in “shock” after learning how his 59-year-old step-dad Miguel Gonzalez tragically died on the job he worked for more than 35 years.
“You send someone off to have a good day at work and you get a call from the 19th Precinct and just, wow, your whole world comes down,” said Aponte, who lived with Gonzalez and his wife, Aponte’s mom, in their Bridgeport, Conn., home.
Gonzalez was clearing the stairs leading from the sidewalk to the basement lobby entrance of 333 East 93rd St. when he lost his footing and fell backwards at around 9:30 a.m., cops said.
Aponte was with mom, Elena, when they received the terrible news from police.
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Doorman dies after freak accident while shoveling snow 0:0 A doorman shoveling the steps at his Upper East Side… “They let her know your husband has passed and she said ‘what do you mean’ and she was just screaming at the top of her lungs. It was just unbearable,” Aponte said.
“[She] couldn’t her breath and she was clutching at her heart,” he said. “She was really going through it. I couldn’t understand what she was trying to say.”
Gonzalez and his wife were getting ready to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary on Feb. 14th – Valentine’s Day, Aponte said, adding that he “loved his wife very much.”
Aponte said that Gonzalez, who loved to fish, had two children of his own, three grandkids and two great-grand kids.
“He’s been a great grand-daddy to all of them,” Aponte said. “I could never say anything negative…he was an example of life.”
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