Elizabeth C. Furlong Obituary

Elizabeth C. Furlong attended Garden City High School in Garden City, NY. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Elizabeth C. Furlong.

Graduation Year	Class of 2004
Date of Passing	Aug 23, 2008
About	Aug. 29--Last week, Elizabeth Furlong was preparing to begin her senior year at Temple University in Philadelphia. The Garden City native enjoyed dinner Friday night with her mother and two aunts. On a hotel couch she feel asleep in a room she shared with her relatives. She never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead Saturday morning after being taken to a hospital. The 22-year-old woman was a 2004 graduate of Garden City High School and volunteered in the summer in Argentina and the Bahamas with a church group. Her mother, Garden City attorney Claire Furlong, said doctors still don't know what caused her daughter's death. Autopsy results are pending laboratory test results, said Jeff Moran, a spokesman for the medical examiner's office in Philadelphia. "We thought she was in a deep sleep," Claire Furlong said. "Our shock was to go to the hospital and be told that she didn't make it." After dining in Philadelphia's Old City district Friday night, Furlong, her mother and two aunts returned to their hotel on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. They watched the Olympics, "Will & Grace" and "Late Show with David Letterman." The last time anyone spoke with Furlong was about 1 a.m., her mother said. "We were chatting and having a great time," Claire Furlong said. About 8:40 a.m. one of Furlong's aunts tried to rouse her, but she wouldn't wake up. Claire Furlong said her daughter was still breathing when paramedics arrived to take her to a hospital. "I don't even know how we realized something was wrong," Claire Furlong said. "It was just a blur to me." Claire Furlong said her daughter, who was known as Lizzie, was "on top of the world" Friday night. She talked about her work with Temple's alumni association during the summer and her plans for visiting friends over Thanksgiving. It was through Shelter Rock Church in Manhasset that Furlong went on missions to build houses, studying in Argentina one summer. "She was just a champion of the underdog," Claire Furlong said. "She would hate if anybody showed disrespect for those who were less fortunate." Other survivors include her father, Joseph, and three sisters, Katherine Furlong of Chicago, Jennifer Furlong and Claire "C.J." Furlong, both of Garden City. A funeral Mass is scheduled today at 10 a.m. at Church of St. Anne in Garden City. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens. (Source: Newsday 8/29/2008)