Model City Worker Gets a Hero’s Goodbye, Her Baby in Her Arms

James Estrin/The New York Times
A ceremonial flag was presented to Rafael Sanz at the funeral of his wife, Donnette Sanz, 33, and his infant son, Sean Michael Justin Sanz.

Model City Worker Gets a Hero’s Goodbye, Her Baby in Her Arms
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
Published: August 26, 2008
They are not typically eulogized with the same pomp and ceremony given to fallen police officers and firefighters. But on Monday, about 1,000 of the city’s 2,600 traffic agents turned out to honor a colleague, Donnette Sanz, and her infant son, who were mowed down in the Bronx 11 days ago.

Mourners filled the Community Protestant Church on East Gun Hill Road in the Baychester section of the Bronx and lined the streets outside, closing ranks with a woman they said exemplified the unheralded hazards and heroism of a profession that many New Yorkers regard with contempt.

“Anyone who ever witnessed the reaction of a New Yorker who finds a ticket on his car can appreciate just how hard it is for our traffic agents to keep their cool,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said. “But Donnette never had any problems in staying calm.”

Ms. Sanz, a 33-year-old Jamaican immigrant who had donated a kidney in 2004 to save her husband’s life, was run down on a lunch break on Aug. 14 at Webster Avenue and 188th Street. The police say she was struck by a van driven by a 72-year-old man with 21 suspensions and 3 revocations on his license.

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