11-Year-Old Jewish Camper With ‘Bright Smile’ Mourned After Mystery Death
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
“Daniel’s bright smile brought joy to many,” read the obituary for Daniel “Ae Roo” Beer, an 11-year-old who died Monday at Jewish summer camp and was mourned at a New Jersey funeral Wednesday.
“Tennis, swimming, piano, basketball, soccer and of course video games were some of the favorite things Daniel enjoyed,” the obituary continued, touching on the grief of brother Ethan Beer and parents Jill and Sam Beer.
Daniel died in still-unknown circumstances Monday, after complaining of intense stomach pain and being transported to a hospital near Camp Nah-Jee-Wah, which is affiliated with the Jewish organization NJY Camps.
“There are no words to describe the sudden loss of a young life, and everyone in the New Jersey Y Camps community is grieving,” camp officials told NorthNewJersey.com. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Daniel and his family.”
Services were held at Robert Schoem’s Menorah Chapel in the town of Paramus, and Daniel will soon be laid to rest at Riverside Cemetery, in Saddle Brook.
The results of an autopsy are still to be released. Other children in Daniel’s cabin at the camp were sent to the emergency room pre-emptively and the cabin was disinfected.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter, @DanielJSolomon
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
