We will miss you, Phyllis

Helen Marino, Commissioner Jo-Ann Golden, Deborah Cigola

There are thousands of stories in the City of Lake Worth. This is one of them.

I remember Phyllis Henzel very well. She always voted in every election. She always came out to say hello to all of us who were campaigning near her house that is situated on a corner lot. She had a big heart and at times, opened her home to people who were less fortunate. Her voting precinct was the Shuffleboard Court even though she lived right across the street from Our Savior Lutheran Church on Lake between A and B streets. She never could figure that one out. We talked about that. She had a disabled son in a wheel chair who lived with her and two sons in the military, career officers, as well as her daughter Deborah.

She was victimized over and over again by people speeding and crashing into her car parked in front of her house, always hit-and runs. They had done it on four other occasions. In January, Mrs. Henzel paid the ultimate price for being a resident and a taxpayer in the City of Lake Worth. She died, never making it to her regular bingo game.

A drunk driver without a driver’s license and a resident who was in this country illegally killed the mother of Deborah Cigola who tells all about the fateful and dreadful day to Commissioner Jo-Ann Golden, a day that has “devastated her family.” “What are you going to do about this immigration problem?” she asks.