Services held for Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick and Florida Hoxha, NY newlyweds killed in Greece explosion
Newlyweds Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick, a Huntington native, and Florida Hoxha died in an Athens explosion that killed six people on Sept. 25. Credit: Kirkpatrick family
On the last Sunday of August, Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick and Florida Hoxha recited their marriage vows before about 300 people at the Crescent Beach Club in Bayville.
They gazed into each other’s eyes and held hands at the sweetheart table, before greeting guests and dancing so hard that the groom’s white dress shirt was sweat-soaked, relatives said.
Twenty-five days after the nuptials, the Airbnb rental where they were staying in Greece collapsed in an apparent gas explosion. The newlyweds and four others were killed on Sept. 26, just hours before the couple were set to return to New York. He was 37 and she was 34. Among the other victims were Hoxha’s brother Florin and his pregnant wife, Eris Cani.
"The loss is just, just monumental because they were such sweet, kind, loving, giving people," said Suzanne Nelson, Kirkpatrick's mother.
In just over two years together, the couple became one, relatives said. She was a funny, generous lawyer committed to helping people. Kirkpatrick, raised in Huntington, was a family-oriented Renaissance man with an eye toward beauty and promise. They called each other zemër — which in Albanian roughly means heart.
Born in Albania on July 18, 1992, Florida Hoxha grew up in a hardworking family that eventually moved to the Bronx and then to Eastchester in southern Westchester County. Hoxha attended Emory University in Atlanta on a scholarship, then New York Law School in Manhattan. She volunteered with incarcerated women and helped secure a commutation of a man’s prison sentence, family said.
She eventually became a senior staff attorney at the New York Legal Assistance Group, where she worked on the Homeownership Protection and Preservation Project, which helped immigrants avoid foreclosure.
"Her colleagues and clients called her a bright light of hope and will miss her fierce advocacy fighting predatory scams and preventing foreclosures," said Lisa Rivera, CEO and president of New York Legal Assistance Group.
On Christmas Eve, relatives recall that the phone kept ringing. "It was all the people in her life that she had helped," calling to say thank you, Nelson said.
Kirkpatrick was born on June 23, 1989, in Stony Brook and moved to Huntington at age 2. Even from a young age, he had a "very intense curiosity" and was a bit nerdy. He liked to wear corduroy pants and plaid shirts, and he carried a briefcase to junior high school, family said.
In his youth, he enjoyed drawing, and his artwork still hangs in his mother’s home. As a child, he helped to persuade his brother, Keith, to play the French horn — a pursuit that continued through high school and college as a music major. He was the cousin who made everyone feel welcome and important, his family recalled.
After graduating from Huntington High School in 2007, Kirkpatrick attended The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he studied economics and Chinese. He enjoyed reading classic literature, antiquing and woodworking.
His interest in studying the Chinese language started during his first year in college when his roommate was from China. After graduating, he moved to China and worked at a startup.
After three years abroad, he returned to the United States. Most recently, he worked at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group as a regulatory and compliance officer.
Eventually, he found himself sitting with Hoxha at the Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Manhattan after the two met on the online dating app Hinge.
Although Hoxha suggested they split the bill, she was surprised when Kirkpatrick agreed and she wasn't sure about a second date. According to Nelson’s retelling, one of Hoxha's brothers told her when she got home to reconsider, telling her, "No, I think he's really nice. I think you should give him another chance."
On their second date, they went to the Met Cloisters, where she reached up and took a bite of a quince from a tree, according to Nelson. And Kirkpatrick just looked at her and said: "OK, that's my girl."
The two soon moved into a Manhattan apartment that Kirkpatrick renovated. They loved browsing and bidding on AuctionNinja, an online platform. They enjoyed gardening and hanging out with relatives.
"They were two gorgeous flowers who together flourished into the most incredible two human beings I'd ever met," said Olivia Carroll, a cousin of Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick is survived by his mother and stepfather, Richard Nelson; and stepsiblings and brothers, Colin and Keith. His father, Steven Kirkpatrick, predeceased him.
Hoxha is survived by her mother, Sabrije Nezaj, and father, Medi Hoxha; brother Clyde Hoxha; and grandmother Shkurte Hoxha.
A wake will be held Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Yorktown Funeral Home in Westchester County. A funeral Mass for the four people will be celebrated on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Church of St. Patrick in Huntington. Ian Kirkpatrick, Florida Hoxha and Florin Hoxha will be buried at Kensico Cemetery in Westchester's Valhalla. Cani will be buried near family in Philadelphia.
Newsday’s John Valenti contributed to this story.
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.
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