Mom says bride-to-be killed in NY crash loved groom with 'every fiber of her being'

PEARL RIVER, N.Y. — The mother of a bride-to-be killed in a suburban New York boat crash urged the grieving groom and other mourners Thursday to turn the accident into a "source of strength."

"Tragedy is a word that will forever be linked with Lindsey and Mark," said Carol Stewart-Kosik, speaking to an overflow crowd at the stucco and stone church where Lindsey Stewart would have married Brian Bond on Aug. 10. Their best man, Mark Lennon, was also killed.

"I was supposed to be out there (in the congregation) and Lindsey was supposed to be up here" at the altar for the wedding, said Stewart-Kosik.

But the boat they were riding in smashed into a barge Friday night on the Hudson River. The powerboat's operator, another friend of the couple, faces a charge of vehicular manslaughter.

"I can't remove the word 'tragedy' from her legacy any more than I can push a barge out of the way," said Stewart-Kosik. But, she added, "tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength."

She repeated that urging as she turned to her daughter's fiance, who attended the funeral with a bruised eye and an arm in a sling.

"Lindsey loved you with every fiber of her being," she told him. "Use this tragedy as a source of strength."

Stewart's sister, Allyson Ruzicka, said she wants Stewart to be remembered for her love of life, her honesty and "for the way she loved the incredible man she was about to marry."

"Rest peacefully, beautiful angel," she bade her sister.

The Rev. John Havrilla, pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd, remembered Stewart as a "loving, fun spirit."

The accident, he said, has touched the hearts of strangers as well as loved ones.

Havrilla said he's received emails of support "from people I have not seen ... continents far away and states down south."

The stationary barge was carrying construction materials for the $3.9 billion project to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson.