Oceanside native murdered in Connecticut massacre

One of the victims of the Hartford Distributors workplace shooting in Manchester, Conn. on Aug. 3 was a native of Oceanside. A day after the murders, friends recalled Louis Felder as a big man with a bigger heart.

"He looked rough on the outside but he had a heart of gold, and he would help anyone in distress," recalled Beverly Skolnick of Oceanside. Her family lived across the street from where Felder grew up. Skolnick said she considered Felder — known as "Big Louie" around the neighborhood — a second son.

Felder, who had just turned 50, was one of eight victims of a disgruntled employee, Omar S. Thornton, 36, who opened fire on coworkers after a disciplinary hearing at the warehouse where Felder was director of operations.

"I feel like they got the story wrong," said Zev Skolnick, Beverly's son and a friend of Felder’s. "We know Louis. He was supposed to tackle the guy, take away his gun and save everybody."

"He was indestructible," echoed Steve Gottesman, another friend. "This couldn't have happened to him."

Felder attended the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach in elementary school and went to high school at the Hillel School in Woodmere. As a 16-year-old, Felder coached his shul's basketball team, despite being just three years older than his players. His mother drove him to the practices.

Skolnick remembered playing ball on the Felders' grass court in Oceanside. Felder approached each game that he coached as a teaching moment. During one practice, Skolnick recalled, five members of the team began ribbing a teammate who was going to another high school. The boy became upset and left the court.

"Louis was incensed at the five other wise guys and brought him back and played two-on-five and proceeded to whip the five of us 13-year-old wise guys," Skolnick said with a laugh.

Gottesman remembered a day when his brother was having a tough day at school and didn't want to go to practice. Felder dragged him to the gym by his ankles. "That was his way of cheering him on," Gottesman explained. " That was Louie: he was tough on the outside but he was a real softie on the inside."

Skolnick said that one of his fondest memories was being awakened at midnight by Felder. He needed Skolnick to drive him to pick up Felder's brother, who had been injured at Camp Ta-Go-La in upstate Monticello. Skolnick protested that he had just gotten his driver's license, but Felder was undeterred.

"He said you're going, and we did," Skolnick related. Felder was always there for everyone, he said. "He would go a million miles for you."

Felder's strength was legendary. According to Skolnick, once, when Felder's father, Marvin, was working under his car, the jack collapsed, trapping him under the vehicle. In an adrenaline rush, Felder managed to pick up the car to save his father.

After high school, Felder studied at a school in Jerusalem for two years before attending Queens College. His wife, Helen, is from Far Rockaway. After their marriage, the couple moved to Connecticut, where Felder began his own business.

"He became a successful businessman on his own without any assistance from anyone," said Beverly Skolnick. Felder was a dedicated member of the Young Israel of Stamford, where he prayed regularly.

"He had this gruff exterior but he was very sensitive," explained Rabbi Ira Ebbin of Ohab Shalom in Merrick, who was the rabbi of the Young Israel of Stamford for five years, which Felder attended. "He was a staple. He would come in at nine o'clock with his sweaters. He never wore a jacket, he always wore a sweater... He was a New Yorker, but deep down, he was a very sensitive, emotional person with a huge heart."

Ebbin recalled that his predecessor at the shul once taped a note to Felder's seat that read, in Hebrew "It is forbidden to speak during [prayer]," which Felder removed.

Ebbin said that Felder held strong views. "We'd clash, but I loved him very much," he said. "He loved his kids, loved his wife — adored his wife — and his wife adored him. They were just active, positive people."

Felder, who dubbed Ebbin the "holy one," was always ready to help members of his community, including driving to the next town to help put up a Sukkah.

Felder is survived by his wife, Helen, and their three children, Gabriel, 18, Samantha, 14, and Stephanie, 12; and by his father, brother and sister.

Zev Skolnick recalled that Aug, 4, the day of Felder's funeral, was the day that Skolnick's own father died.

"Louis was always fond of him, and somehow, when my dad was sick at the end, Louis and Helen showed up at the hospital to say goodbye," he recalled. "I can only wonder at the welcome they will give to each other in heaven."