Harry Mercado was a loving father, brother and son. He lived in Middle Village in Queens with his mom, Lucille. He was her main caregiver.

His sister, April, said he worked within his community, bringing people together, setting up events like the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade.

What he loved the most: lifting the Giglio for his local church, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Queens. “He went to church there every Sunday,” his sister said. “He always wanted to be a part of everything.”

Harry had four brothers, one sister and a stepsister, and he was kind of a caretaker for the whole family, picking up the kids or bringing them to doctors’ appointments when their own parents were working, taking his own three children for visits to “the city” to see the Rockefeller Center Tree. He was admitted to Elmhurst Hospital and tested positive for Coronavirus on Friday. At 3:44PM last Tuesday he lost his fight. He was just 38 years old.

His mother, Lucille, was already battling coronavirus. She’d been admitted to Jamaica Hospital nearly two weeks before. Lucille worked in the meat department of Waldbaums for 35 years, before her health began to fail. But she fitted easily into the role of grandma, not just for her own 13, but for all the kids in the neighborhood. “Everybody in Middle Village knew her,” her daughter, April, said. “She always sat outside, always a smile on her face, making sure everyone was good.” And she loved to dance.

Lucille spent 12 days fighting coronavirus. But last Thursday, at 3:43 PM, two days nearly to the minute after the death of her son, she, too, lost her battle, leaving a family to grieve not one, but two of its most loved members. Lucille was just 54.