Peekskill man killed kite surfing
Father of two a devoted family man
by Rick Pezzullo
A Peekskill man, described by his wife as a devoted family man, was
killed over the weekend while kite surfing in Long Island Sound.
The body of Stoil Popow, 48, a native of Bulgaria who lived in the
Chateau Rive apartments in Peekskill, was found at 11:40 a.m. Sunday
by the United States Coast Guard off the shoreline of Stratford, Connecticut.
Popow was reported missing about 5 p.m. Saturday by a 911 caller after
violent winds, gusting to 40 miles per hour, apparently pulled him
offshore, about two miles southeast of Stratford Point.
According to a kite surfer enthusiast on KiteForum.com who was aware
of the incident, Popow was only about 20 feet offshore when he dropped
his kite and started wrapping up the lines.
"The front came in very, very quickly and very violently,"
the kite surfer wrote on the message board. "I know Stoil, as
I've snow-kited with him very often for the last two winters. He is
very smart and a very accomplished kiter. He was certainly wearing
his drysuit."
However, according to the Coast Guard, Popow didn't have a life jacket
or any emergency signaling equipment.
The Coast Guard did recover Popow's kite and surfboard. His body was
flown to Bridgeport Hospital.
Popow's wife, Veneta, said her husband enjoyed many other sports,
including skiing, snowboarding and swimming, but was not a thrill
seeker as he was described by one media outlet.
"He was the best husband, father and son. He provided for his
family, here and in Bulgaria," she said, noting he sent monthly
checks to his parents and her parents and would be upset when he was
unable to send any money.
A former officer at USB Bank who did business with Morgan Stanley,
JP Morgan Chase and NASDAQ, Stoil Popow had been unemployed since
May but had received a job offer last Friday—the day before
his kite surfing incident.
Stoil Popow could speak five languages—Slovakian, Russian, German,
English and Bulgarian—and was working on a Master's degree in
business.
"He was a very professional person," Veneta Popow said.
"He was very good at mathematics and worked very hard. He was
an introverted person that preferred to stay home and study than to
go to parties."
She added that her husband made regular donations to churches in Bulgaria
and the United States and built the sound system at Church of the
Nazarene in White Plains.
Besides his wife, who is studying nursing at Lehman College, Stoil
Popow is survived by two children, Stoian, a fifth grader at St. Ann's
School in Ossining, and Nicoletta, a fourth grader at St. Ann's.
Veneta Popow said her husband would be cremated and a funeral will
be held in Bulgaria. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Ann's
Church in Ossining.
Donations for the Popow family are being collected. Any checks can
be made out to Veneta Popow and mailed to 313 Chateau Rive, Peekskill,
NY 10566.
