‘We thought he was invincible’: Family mourns passing of Swampscott Whole Foods worker from coronavirus
“He was incredibly dedicated to his family and made extraordinary sacrifices for his children.”
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The family of the Swampscott Whole Foods employee who died from complications of coronavirus is remembering the 53-year-old as a loving father and hard worker.
Leon Marin, of Lynn, died Wednesday, the Boston Herald reports.
“Even though he was always tired, he made time to be a good father and to participate a lot in church,” his son, Juan Marin, told the Herald. “Everybody that knows him knows he worked a lot but he always had a smile on his face, he was always joking with people, he was always really kind to everybody he met.”
Marin worked 70 hours a week in the kitchen at the Whole Foods market and also at a burrito shop at Logan Boston Logan International Airport, according to WBZ . The 53-year-old was the sole breadwinner for his family and fell ill three weeks ago before being placed on a ventilator.
His son told the station his family didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.
According to the Herald, the 53-year-old leaves behind four children — Juan, 22, Ivan, 28, Jose, 25, and Alex, 20 — and his wife, Amparo.
“We miss him so much and none of us thought this was going to happen. We thought he was invincible,” his son, Juan, told the newspaper. “It happened so quick.”
His father was active in Lynn community groups, according to a statement from Lynn United for Change.
“We knew him as a kind, thoughtful, humble, and hard-working man,” the group said in a statement. “He was incredibly dedicated to his family and made extraordinary sacrifices for his children. Leon should still be alive today. His memory will live on, and inspire us to continue the struggle for justice and for a kinder and fairer world.”
The community group has launched a GoFundMe page to help support his family.
https://www.facebook.com/LynnUnitedMA/posts/3140426492648376?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCd1YVFmYucSNUPm88XiLjqoS1oEucABFX8DRBF8HimMP-UMdT3WA_r0UVUoK3nD7r_YFMr_niu9htq07S0N2jQ48AkydPw_mSPyqS8mxvFdEHhnsD4e2uMceaFuPoUBp4TIkJKoaXnZl4wXSrAKL8vyfYJSxlSwIimL0iYKsUNpcDTtoXzQBa4mTIsSkxi-f3aDmZOjcX3ucQX51mFAOxeJWkjLi09fwSEotJlQV4O5cOc_RIpfPxvNMv4jOJ8jGQDJK7NuxTohll5OH8ExVWg3h0TSMJPWgpL-Z5sUG81Y2Hv9xiTW_lBCkQFGcBC4EjiAy6MNaj4AhD8N-602i74pA&__tn__=-R
Whole Foods said in a statement Friday it is offering counseling to employees in need of support.
“Literally I needed to drink water to calm down because he was a very, very nice person,” one of his Whole Foods coworkers told WBZ-TV following his passing.
Marin’s death follows after Vitalina Williams, a worker at the Market Basket in Salem, Massachusetts, died of COVID-19 earlier this month.
