Rapid Responders

WAYNE  True to his instincts as a longtime Pater­son firefighter, the late Kerry Rivera jumped in right away to answer the call on a autumn day four years ago at Our Lady of Consolation Parish (OLC) here. Thankfully, it was not a serious fire call, but instead the Lord’s urgent call for Rivera to become a religious education teacher for his daughter Eden’s fourth-grade class at the Passaic County parish.

On that day, Rivera visited OLC’s parish center to register his two youngest children for CCD, when Debbie Derricks, OLC’s director of religious education, asked him – almost in an off-handed way – if he would teach fourth grade. Without hesitating, he told her, “OK. I could to that” – true to his can-do attitude and volunteer spirit. This summer, OLC has been fondly remembering 50-year-old Rivera — who died on June 26 in a tragic bicycle accident — as one of its favorite teachers, while also reaching out to help and comfort his wife, Rena, and their three children: Elijah, 23, Ezra, 19, and Eden, 13.

“It [Rivera’s death] was a shock for sure. But we both were firm believers in faith in Jesus that there’s a date and time that you will leave this earth if it’s your time. Kerry was one of a kind. He was a great guy. To know him was to love him,” said Rena Rivera, who was married to Rivera for almost 25 years and described him in his obituary as an all-around family man: a “revered and adored father” and as the family’s “provider, chef, chauffeur, lunch packer, carpooler, launderer, landscaper and favorite dance partner.” “Kerry loved teaching CCD and loved OLC. He kept his students motivated ­— and they knew their stuff. Kerry felt that God was calling him to teach these kids, who loved him,” she said.

This fall, two members of the Rivera family will be carrying on his legacy as a religious education teacher — as well as a rapid responder to God’s call to parish ministry — by taking his place in one of OLC’s classrooms. Elijah will teach an eighth-grade class, which includes his sister, Eden, with assistance from their mother, Rena, who was raised a Baptist. She looks forward to starting the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process at OLC this October and, after joining the Catholic Church, being able to teach her own CCD class.

“Elijah and I want to teach at OLC out of a sense of pride in what Kerry did [as a religious educator]. We know that he will not be with us physically in the classroom, but he will be there in spirit. He will be sitting there and smiling,” said Rena Rivera, a client account executive at ADP Payroll Solutions Company in Wayne, where she lives with her children.

It was on June 26 that Rena Rivera learned that her husband Kerry, a 13-year member of the Paterson Fire Department, died after the mountain bike he was riding fell 20 feet off a cliff in a wooded reservation near the Cedar Grove Reservoir. Originally, she thought he only had suffered injuries, but Rivera’s brother, Michael, who had been riding with him, broke the horrific news to her. Kerry and Rena met when she was a 16-year-old student at Wayne Hills High School and he was a graduate of Passaic High School. They married on Nov. 20, 1992, she told The Beacon.

Last week, Rena Rivera recalled her late husband’s love for his work, his family and sports, especially football, which led him to coach for both the Passaic and Wayne PAL football programs. He also served the community as an EMT. His infectious enthusiasm inspired others, including his many friends, colleagues and many people that his family met for the first time after his death, Rena Rivera said.

OLC – along with the broader community — bid Rivera a fond farewell, during a funeral Mass on Saturday, July 1 in the church, which was filled to capacity and featured a fire department color guard and bagpipers. Father Michael Lombardo, OLC’s pastor, served as main celebrant of the liturgy and homilist.

“We gave Kerry a good send off in death and a good celebration of his life,” said Father Lombardo, who spoke in his homily about visiting CCD classrooms a few years ago and being surprised to see a man, Kerry Rivera, teaching a class — a rarity at OLC back then. “Kerry never had any trouble with his classes. He demanded a lot of his students. He gave himself to the community. He was a big man with a big heart,” the priest said.

In class, Rivera brought his own life experiences into his classroom. He was nervous at first about teaching but Derricks said that she helped give him some reassurance.

“The kids loved him. He was personable and easy to like,” said Derricks, who praised his volunteer spirit. “I was shocked [at Rivera’s death]. I still well up some times. He was a good guy, who died way too young,” she said.

Some of Rivera’s fellow Paterson firefighters were surprised when he took his CCD material into the firehouse break room on a Friday or Saturday during his shift to prepare for that Sunday’s class. He started with Eden’s fourth-grade class and continued teaching, following her classes up to seventh grade this past academic year. For a few years, Rivera also taught first-aid to members of Ezra’s Boy Scout Troop 21 at St. Philip the Apostle Parish, Clifton, Rena Rivera said.

Since Rivera’s death, OLC — along with the wider community, including Wayne — has helped comfort the family, during this difficult time. Wayne residents have signed up to provide meals for the Riveras, while the parish has been collecting money to assist them. Also, OLC’s youth ministry has been seeking funds to plant a cherry blossom tree in Rivera’s memory on campus. The parish also asks people to keep the family in their prayers, according to OLC’s bulletin.

Today, Elijah works for the Bed, Bath & Beyond store in Totowa, while pursing an acting career. Ezra studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, while Eden will be entering eighth grade in the Wayne Public Schools. Rena Rivera said that she thinks that she and her husband – with help from OLC — have planted the seeds of faith in their children, as demonstrated by Elijah’s willingness to teach CCD and Ezra’s willingness to take over if Elijah is unable to teach a class.

“At OLC, it’s come as you are. Here, they accept everybody. I love Father Michael and his homilies. He always talks about something that I can relate to,” said Rena Rivera, who noted that Father Lombardo mentioned Rivera and his family during Sunday Masses a day after his funeral Mass. “OLC has been amazing. They have helped me through this. They have opened their arms to us. The response has been overwhelming,” she said.