Help Honor Pedro's Final Wishes After Freak Accident

Christian Mazzagatti is organizing this fundraiser.

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It is with a heavy heart and immense sadness to announce the tragic passing of a beloved member of our family, my uncle Pedro (Peter) Lazaro Arce, who was 73 at the time of death. I am writing this in conjunction with my family and father (specifically) for his brother and my uncle in hopes that we raise enough funds to afford a small remembrance service and traditional Catholic burial, as this is what Pedro had wished for as a devout, lifelong Catholic before a horrific freak accident took his life on 06/04/2024. If his prayers cannot be accommodated, my father (his next of kin and the only person Pedro had in his life) will act with due diligence and opt for a cremation, as we understand that times are tough for everyone, and money is sometimes scarce. Below: My Father (Left) and His Brother Pedro (Right)

My Uncle (Left) and My Father (Right)

Pedro was the most self-less and generous person I had ever known in my life, a role-model for humanity who went out of his way to sacrifice himself to help others in need. Having been subjected to childhood abuse during his formative years, he was stricken by a morbid degree of untreated mental illness such as severe anxiety disorder(s) and lifelong depression, among other conditions. As a result, he found security, peace and hope amid a sea of hopelessness in spirituality and in God.

He was a devout Catholic until the day of his passing, and no matter what the circumstances were in his life at any particular time, there was never an instant when he missed Sunday mass at church, wherein he was an active participant in the activities and shared his experiences to anyone who would listen. He was open-minded and accepting of any and every religion and belief, regardless of whether he agreed or not. He was well-known among his community and church and often boasted about his friendships with them and wisdomful conversations with the church deacons and clergy members. He encouraged the ones he loved that "God always listened, even if you couldn't hear him" and that "we must pass and endure the calamity of the storms in order to appreciate the beauty of the rainbows." Below: My Uncle and ME Nearly 40 Years Ago

He also devoted his life to caring for his mother, for they were inseparable. Together they had managed to adopt and care for a litany of stray dogs and cats, [and] at the time of his death, he cried that the only valued possessions he cared about were his dog and the ashes of his deceased mother, who had passed away just months before him. Although he had an unsuccessful round of romantic relationships earlier in his life, the love for his mother was only slightly greater than the love that he had for his one and only brother (my father), two nephews and one niece, who he is survived by.

My Grandmother in Prayer

Pedro became homeless last year after enduring a string of tragic incidents that included the death of his mother in June at the age of 97 and culminated in an eviction from his own home several months after. He made the choice to live in his Nissan Pathfinder with his small pet dog. Below: Grandmother Passed Away Months Before

On 06/04/2024 at 05:45 PM, Pedro passed away in a horrific, unforeseen freak accident in the parking lot of a Publix Supermarket that he regularly frequented. Following his evening routine of visiting the supermarket to buy dinner for his pet dog and himself, he entered the parking lot and parked in a "handicap-only" parking space as per usual. After entering the parking space, he attempted to put the gearshift in the "park" position. With his foot still firmly pressed against the brake pedal, he opened the door and swiftly exited his vehicle, not realizing that the gearshift had accidently been placed in "reverse" instead. He held onto the steering wheel as the vehicle moved in reverse, struggling to jump back onto the driver's seat and place the gearshift in "park" to regain control of his vehicle, and to keep it from hitting the vehicle parked in the row behind. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the momentum of the truck and panic and lost balance as he was inadvertently pushed backward by the opened door, although some witnesses have described that he actually collapsed due to cardiac arrest or another health issue from the stress of the ensuing accident. After losing balance and collapsing to the ground, he became wedged underneath the door and was run over and pinned underneath the driver's side wheel. Life-saving measures were administered by First Responders, and he was taken to Jackson South Community Hospital, however he was deceased at the scene and officially pronounced deceased at 6:18 PM in the hospital. An autopsy was performed on 06/07/2024, and the cause of death was officially deemed to have been caused by "blunt force injuries" as a result of an "accident."

Verification of Death (Per Medical Examiner's Office

Aside from my father (his brother), whom Pedro was raised with as a child, he had nobody in his life with whom cared for him and/or he talked to. My father and Pedro had an extremely close kinship, and the slightest mention or memory brings him to tears. It is clear that he is extremely distraught by the tragedy. Unfortunately, my father is disabled and lives in South Carolina along with me. We are pleading for a miracle to occur, and to whoever can help, to please give our deceased relative a proper burial and service to give our family closure, or at least for him to be able to be cremated and put in a columbarium.