LOST TO HURRICANE SANDY

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --

John C. Filipowicz

loved athletics. Any kind of sports is what you would find the 20-year-old college student involved in because he didn't like sitting around at home. He was quick with his wit and his smile, but also shy at times, too. But more than anything, Mr. Filipowicz loved his father, John K. So it wasn't unusual for the junior Filipowicz to stay behind with his dad when the father chose to stay at the family's 72 Fox Beach Ave. home in Oakwood Beach when he heard Hurricane Sandy was on her way.

When the younger Filipowicz heard that his father was staying he replied: "I'm not leaving Daddy," Filipowicz's uncle, Neil, previously told the Advance.

After Hurricane Sandy hit, the bodies of father and son were found together on Tuesday in their basement, locked in a final father-and-son embrace, said family members. Mr. Filipowicz's head was resting inside his father's hand, said the uncle.

With the help of a neighbor on nearby Tarlton Street, they recovered both men's bodies.

A native Staten Islander, Mr. Filipowicz was born in Oakwood Beach and resided there his entire life.

Mr. Filipowicz was currently attending the College of Staten Island, and had talked about studying nursing.

He graduated with honors from St. Peter's Boys High School, New Brighton, where he was on the baseball team.

Family members said he had also taken the FDNY test.

"He was a smart-witted kid with a smile, but he was also a little shy at times," said his uncle.

Mr. Filipowicz was a parishioner of St. Charles R.C. Church, Oakwood.

He was very close to his twin brother, Joseph, who said: "He loved playing sports and working out. He was a great person who was always there for his family and friends. He would help out no matter what."

His cousin, Danny McFarland, 20, had previously recalled his passion for sports: "Everything that was athletic," McFarland said. "He wouldn't let you sit inside the house, because if you sat inside the house, you were a wimp... Baseball, football, basketball. He was just an all-around athletic guy."

Mr. Filipowicz also enjoyed going out to the movies.

Along with his brother, Joseph, and his mother, Christine, and his uncle, Neil, also surviving are his sister, Cali Filipowicz; his grandmother, Joan Filipowicz; and his longtime girlfriend, Margaret Herrera.

The funeral will be Monday from the Matthew Funeral Home, Willowbrook, with a mass at 10:15 a.m. in St. Charles Church. Burial will be in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.