By Nicole Falco
Gluck, a Valley Stream resident and native of Far Rockaway, suffered a fatal heart attack while dining at a restaurant on Aug. 10. He was only 33-years-old.
"Anything he did for anybody came totally from his heart with love. I always thought he just made me feel special and his sisters probably thought he just made them feel special, but he did it with all his friends," said Vivian Kaye, Gluck's mother.
Gluck's charisma and fun-loving personality touched many lives as evidenced by the hundreds of people who packed the chapel for his Aug. 12 funeral and the dozens of cars in the procession to his burial, his family said.
"I know he loved everyone he met. He was the rare kind of man who would stop to help a stranger," said James Kehoe, Gluck's best friend of 22 years.
Kehoe's mom, Maggie, was like a second mother to Gluck. Gluck would visit Maggie and look out for her while her son was away at school, Kehoe said.
Nothing was more important to Gluck than Cassandra, his 1 and a 1/2-year-old daughter with his girlfriend, Carolina. According to Gluck's sister, Jill Kaye, Cassandra was the "light of his life."
Jill said her brother took his daughter everywhere. He took her to the circus, children's concerts at Westbury Music Fair, the zoo, horse and buggy rides and swimming lessons.
"He wanted to expose her to as much as possible," Jill said.
Kaye would joke with her son that Cassandra was only a baby and probably wouldn't remember much.
"He took her anyplace he could take her that he thought would make her happy. I would tell him, 'Richie, she's only a baby,' but it's like he knew he didn't have much time and he wanted to share everything with her," Kaye said.
Gluck not only enjoyed taking his daughter everywhere, but his family as well.
"We were constantly on the phone. We went all over together. He always wanted to be together," Jill said. "He was the best of the best."
Kaye added," You can try to instill [family values] in your children, but they have to want it and he wanted it."
Gluck was also looking forward to meeting his first niece or nephew. Gluck's sister and brother-in-law, Bonnie and Rob Mills, are expecting their first child any day now.
Gluck's family is sitting Shiva until Friday, Aug. 16, from 2 to 10 p.m. at 8 Elderberry Lane, Valley Stream.
