Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick, formerly of Huntington, and his wife, Florida Hoxha, among 4 Americans killed in Greece explosion

Huntington-raised Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick and his wife, Florida Hoxha, were married on Long Island last month before flying to Mexico for a week, then to Athens for nine days. But just before the Manhattan couple was to leave Greece, they were killed, along with four other people, in an apparent gas explosion Friday.

"They would have been leaving in a few hours. They were, you know, checked in already on their Delta flight, but obviously never made it," Suzanne Nelson, mother of Kirkpatrick, said in a phone interview. 

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens), the Westchester County Board of Legislators and the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified the other U.S. victims as Hoxha's brother, Florin Hoxha, and his wife, Eris Cani, an assistant professor of pharmacy practice at the Touro College of Pharmacy in Manhattan. The two non-American victims have been identified as the owners of the building that collapsed in the explosion — British national Edmond Hings, 78, and his Greek wife, Athena Papaprescou, 77.

Greek authorities said the two American couples were staying at an Airbnb rental in the building on Lysikratous Street in the historic Plaka District in the shadow of the Acropolis at the time of the explosion. Greek fire service investigators said they believe a gas leak caused the second-floor explosion that brought the building down.

Looking back on their lives, Kirkpatrick's mother described her son and daughter-in-law as a beautiful match. She was like "the sun in the solar system," a lawyer who fiercely defended people who might soon lose their homes to foreclosure, Nelson said. He was the "Renaissance man," ever the history buff who painted, built furniture, dressed impeccably and loved reading the classics.

A 2007 graduate of Huntington High School, Kirkpatrick, 37, was a contributing staff member of the school newspaper, The Dispatch, according to records. He later studied at the College of William and Mary in Virginia and worked at a startup in China. His last job was as a regulatory and compliance officer with the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. 

"He was just a wonderful, incredible, unique human being," his mother said. "He was creative. He spoke Chinese. He had a zest for life."

Speaking at a Westchester County Board of Legislators meeting on Monday night, its chairman, Vedat Gashi, told those gathered he got to know Florida Hoxha when she helped him campaign for office. She was a senior attorney at the New York Legal Assistance Group, where she represented immigrants at risk of eviction.

"She was a dedicated community servant and a person who would reach out and say, 'How can I help," he said. "She was committed to helping through her work. ... It’s a tragic loss."

Then, just before asking for a moment of silence to close the meeting, Gashi, visibly shaken, said: "It is really a hug-your-loved-ones situation for me."