By Alexander Dworkowitz
Brendan McNelis always made sure to call his mother.
“He called me every night of his life when he was out,” said Diane McNelis, 43, of her 20-year-old son who grew up in Flushing.
But for 10 weeks, Diane McNelis heard only calls of concern from friends instead of reassurance from her son.
Brendan McNelis, a student at Queensborough Community College, was reported missing after a fraternity party in Binghamton, N.Y. in early March. On May 15, his body was found in the Susquehanna River, several miles away from where he was last seen.
On Saturday, family, friends and members of the Queensborough community gathered to mourn Brendan McNelis at his funeral.
“He was a very happy, sweet person, always singing,” his mother said.
Before he disappeared, Brendan McNelis traveled to SUNY Binghamton to see Fiorella Ramirez, a friend from Flushing whom he had dated two years before, said Detective Lt. Alex Minor of the Binghamton police.
Sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., Brendan McNelis left a fraternity party he attended with Ramirez at an American Legion Hall after telling Ramirez he would soon return, Minor said.
No one reported seeing Brendan McNelis again, Minor said.
An autopsy of Brendan McNelis’s body showed that he had drowned, and there were no signs of foul play, Minor said.
“We don’t know the reason he left the legion,” Minor said. “We know he had talked to his ex-girlfriend about leaving because he didn’t like the kind of music that was being played.”
Ramirez told the Binghamton police that McNelis seemed depressed, Minor said.
But his mother said her son was feeling fine.
“How could he be in a state of depression?” she asked. “People who are depressed don’t excel in school.”
Diane McNelis said her son was a popular student, who was well-liked and well-known among his neighbors on Murray Street.
Brendan McNelis enjoyed writing, music and cooking.
“He would spend two hours at a time in the kitchen cooking,” said Diane McNelis.
Brendan McNelis’s friends, who often called him 20 times a day, frequently visited Diane McNelis during the 10-week period that her son was missing.
“They came to see me every week when he was missing,” she said. “That’s the kind of relationship he fostered — loyalty.”
Brendan McNelis, who expected to graduate this May from Queensborough, was considering enrolling at New York City Technical College in Brooklyn, his mother said.
George Muchita, Brendan McNelis’s academic adviser at Queensborough, said the 20-year-old was an honors student and had made the dean’s list.
“He was very personable,” Muchita said. “He was someone I could sit down with and talk to. I can understand why Kevin and Diane are so proud of him.”
Before Brendan McNelis went upstate on Feb. 28, Diane McNelis gave him a long hug goodbye.
“I said, ‘Oh, I love you, be careful,’” she said. “I felt like I didn’t want to let go of him. And that’s the last time I ever saw him.”
Brendan McNelis is survived by his mother, his father Kevin, his two brothers, Sean and Aaron, his stepfather Vinny and his cousin Joni.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
