Services Set For Franklin Lakes Golfer Who Died From Lightning Strike

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Services will be held in Franklin Lakes this week for a 28-year-old resident who was struck by lightning at a North Jersey golf course last Tuesday and passed away in the hospital six days later.

First responders headed to the Ballyowen course at Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg around 2 p.m. on July 8 and found Simon Mariani on the ground, officials said.

First responders treated him, followed by paramedics with Atlantic Health and St Clare's, officials said. He was flown to Cooperman Barnabas Hospital in Livingston.

Other golfers on the course that day shared photos of encroaching storm clouds, but they did not anticipate a sudden lightning strike.

On Monday, he passed away unexpectedly in the hospital, said his obituary.

The obituary said he grew up in Franklin Lakes and is survived by his parents and two sisters.

Mariani graduated from Notre Dame in Indiana, receiving undergraduate degrees in accounting and economics. He worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers for three years, then went back to Notre Dame for a master's in finance last year. He then began working at MTS Health Partners in Manhattan.

"He was respected and admired by colleagues for his intellect, integrity, teamwork, sense of humor and strong work ethic," his obit says.

He also enjoyed family life, painting, photography, baking, National Parks, outdoor sports, following his favorite teams, and enjoyed the music of Taylor Swift and Jimmy Buffet.

Mariani's funeral will be held in Franklin Lakes on Friday, at 10 a.m. at Church of the Most Blessed Sarcrament. Services were planned 4-8 p.m. Thursday at Plaat-Vermeulen Memorial Home.

More Lightning Fatalities

On Wednesday evening, weather conditions caused more tragedy when 13 people were hurt and one was killed in a lightning strike at an archery range in Jackson, N.J.

While lightning strikes are rare, a father of three was struck by lightning on a Texas golf course last month and died, according to news reports. And last month, a teenage boy was struck by lightning in Central Park.

The National Weather Service says:

• No place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area.
• If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you.
• When you hear thunder, immediately move to safe shelter: a substantial building with electricity or plumbing or an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle with windows up.
• Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes after you hear the last sound of thunder.

Indoor Lightning safety:

• Stay off corded phones, computers and other electrical equipment that put you in direct contact with electricity.
• Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths and faucets.
• Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches.
• Do not lie on concrete floors, and do not lean against concrete walls.

If you are caught outside with no safe shelter anywhere nearby the following actions may reduce your risk:

• Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks
• Never lie flat on the ground
• Never shelter under an isolated tree
• Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
• Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water
• Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)

READ MORE: Franklin Lakes Man Killed On Golf Course