Tanya L. Wheeler, one of the Cyrs' daughters, said the family was notified by officials at the state office of the chief medical examiner that her father suffered a deadly heart attack that caused him to drown.
WESTFIELD – Preliminary autopsy results have determined that Daniel L. Cyr had a heart attack before he drowned Monday in Hampton Ponds, where his wife, Patricia E., lost her life as well in an effort to save her husband, according to Cyr family members.
View full sizePatricia and Daniel CyrTanya L. Wheeler, one of the Cyrs’ daughters, said Friday afternoon that the family was notified by officials at the state office of the chief medical examiner in Holyoke that her father suffered a deadly heart attack that caused him to drown in Hampton Ponds.
Officials said on Tuesday that Daniel Cyr, 64, jumped off his pontoon boat to save the couple’s puppy that had gone into the water and when he began to struggle Patricia, 61, jumped in to help her husband.
“We knew intuitively that my father did not die saving a dog,” Wheeler said Friday afternoon after funeral services for her parents. “My mother absolutely knew he was having a heart attack. They loved their dog, but they did not die for a dog.”
Earlier in the week, Wheeler, her son, Kenneth J. DeJordy, 19, and her sister, Miranda S. Landry, of West Springfield, described the Cyrs as a loving and devoted couple who lived for each other as they were getting ready to celebrate 40 years of marriage.
While losing the Cyrs has left a void in the tight-knit family, knowing that her parents died together because of their love for each other in the midst of her father’s heart attack has brought some small measure of relief, Wheeler said.
“This brings us some closure and peace of mind and comfort knowing that in their final moments my mother was trying to save my father’s life,” she said. “It’s terrible to lose two parents, but we know they are together in eternity. No matter how afraid she was, she jumped in to save my father.”
Wheeler said that since the tragedy, she has heard people characterize the events as a love story, and it is a story she hopes others take to heart and learn how to live and love the way her parents taught their family.
“We would have all done the same for our spouses – they taught us how to love,” she said. “We have no regrets. Nothing was left unsaid. We learned to live well and love well.
I see a lot of dysfunction in the world, but we didn’t have that in my world,” Wheeler added. “We always told each other “I love you,” and I hope others can learn from this to get their lives on track and figure out what’s important in life.”
Despite the heartbreak, Wheeler said there was a sense of privilege, as well as many smiles and much laughter among the 200 family members and friends who gathered Friday afternoon at the Cyr’s Pequot Point Road of 39 years.
“We’re all here reminiscing,” she said. “It’s a beautiful day, and everyone is enjoying the view and the water, laughing, smiling and telling stories. We are very fortunate to have so much love.”
Westfield Police Capt. Hipolito Nunez, who described the incident as an accident, said Daniel Cyr jumped into Hampton Ponds at about 6 p.m. Monday to save their small West Highland terrier puppy, Sadie. As her husband began to struggle, Patricia Cyr jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue him.
Two jet-ski riders were credited with pulling the Cyrs from the water and alerting two nearby boaters who transported the husband and wife to shore in separate vessels, police said. Authorities were called to the scene at about 6:23 p.m.
Daniel Cyr was taken to Noble Hospital in Westfield, while Patricia Cyr was transported to Holyoke Medical Center.
State environmental police, investigators from the office of Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, and the state police Crime Scene Services Section assisted Westfield police with the probe. Westfield firefighters and emergency medical technicians also responded.
Monday’s double drowning was the second fatal accident at Hampton Ponds this year. In June, West Springfield resident Nicolae Ulinici, 46, drowned after he entered the water from a boat and never resurfaced, authorities said.