“She Was My Rock”: 14-Year-Old Delivers Heartbreaking Eulogy for Jewish Mom Killed in Midtown Mass Shooting

UPPER EAST SIDE — A 14-year-old girl stood before a shattered community Thursday at Central Synagogue and gave a deeply moving eulogy for her mother, Wesley LePatner — one of four victims gunned down Monday morning inside a Park Avenue office building.

“Every time I hear the doorbell ring, I think it’s her,” the teen said through tears. “And I get excited.”

LePatner, 43, was a senior executive at Blackstone and a major figure in New York’s Jewish philanthropic world. She was remembered at the funeral as both a brilliant mind in finance and a deeply devoted mother, community leader, and advocate for Israel.

Authorities say the gunman, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, entered 345 Park Avenue believing he was targeting the NFL’s headquarters, but mistakenly went to the wrong floor. He opened fire in the lobby, killing four people before turning the weapon on himself.

Two of the victims — LePatner and 27-year-old Julia Hyman — were Jewish women active in the city’s professional and religious circles. Both were remembered at separate memorial services held this week at Central Synagogue.

A Leader in Every Arena
LePatner, a native New Yorker and daughter of attorneys, graduated summa cum laude from Yale and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During her college years, she became known for hosting Shabbat dinners and was a leader in Jewish campus life, according to The Forward.

After nearly a decade at Goldman Sachs, she joined Blackstone in 2014, eventually helping lead its $53 billion real estate investment trust. But her work extended far beyond Wall Street. She sat on the boards of the UJA-Federation of New York, the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, and helped found the Orthodox Altneu congregation on the Upper East Side.

Just last year, she received the UJA’s prestigious Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award, and led a mission to Israel after the October 7 attacks. Speaking at that event, she described herself as “an American, but first and foremost Jewish,” The Forward reported.

Her husband Evan, whom she met on their first day at Yale, spoke at the funeral of her fierce intellect and unassuming nature. “She operated at a level of near-perfection,” he said, “but never bragged.”

LePatner’s rabbi and friends described her as someone who bridged divides within the Jewish world. Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Reform Central Synagogue and Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt of Orthodox Altneu co-officiated her funeral — a first for both. “It is a testament to Wesley,” Buchdahl said.

Goldschmidt remembered her as a “master of time,” someone who filled every moment with purpose. His wife, Avital, posted a tribute recalling a recent conversation where they spoke about Torah, parenting, and the future of Jewish women leaders.

At Thursday’s service, LePatner’s daughter brought many to tears with her simple and aching words. “She was my rock. I just miss her so much.”