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 and then to Athens for nine days. But just before the Manhattan couple left Greece, they were killed, along with four others, in an apparent gas explosion Friday.

“They would have left in a few hours. You know, they were already checked in on their Delta flight, but obviously they never arrived,” Suzanne Nelson, Kirkpatrick’s mother, said in a telephone interview.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens), the Westchester County Board of Legislators and the Greek Foreign Ministry identified the other American victims as Hoxha’s brother, Florin Hoxha, and his wife, Eris Cani, an assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Touro College of Pharmacy in Manhattan. The two non-American victims were 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 in 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 investigators said they believe a gas leak caused the explosion on the second floor that caused the building to collapse.

Looking back on their lives, Kirkpatrick’s mother described her son and daughter-in-law as a beautiful couple. She was like “the sun in the solar system,” an attorney who fiercely defended people who were soon at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure, Nelson said. He was the “Renaissance Man,” a history buff who painted, made furniture, dressed impeccably, and loved reading the classics.

A 2007 graduate of Huntington High School, Kirkpatrick, 37, was a staffer at the school newspaper, The Dispatch, records show. He then studied at the College of William and Mary in Virginia and worked at a startup in China. His last job was as Regulatory and Compliance Manager at 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 meeting of the Westchester County Board of Legislators Monday evening, its chairman, Vedat Gashi, told those gathered that 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 deportation.

“She was a dedicated community servant and someone 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, a visibly shaken Gashi said, “This is truly a hug situation for the ones you love. »