Obituary: Daniel Chernikoff, 24, ‘didn’t take anything for granted’

By Jewish Star Staff

Issue of June 4, 2010 / 22 Sivan 5770

Family and friends of Daniel Chernikoff are stunned by his sudden death on Motza’ei Shabbat. After returning from shul to the Riverdale apartment he shared with his wife of several months, Ariella Wruble Chernikoff, Daniel, 24, said he didn’t feel well, then collapsed. Rescuers were unable to revive him.

“His father in law said at the funeral, his heart was his strongest muscle, and I couldn’t agree with that more,” said Steven Rabinowitz, a veterinary student from Queens who was part of Daniel’s close-knit group of friends. They attended Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh together before attending Yeshiva University.

“When you have a heart condition people think that it’s your weakest muscle, but it was his strongest attribute. It defined him,” Rabinowitz said. Daniel underwent heart surgery 10 years ago. Perhaps as a result, Daniel “didn’t take anything for granted in his life,” Rabinowitz added.

Daniel was an “out of the ordinary, really nice guy [who] didn’t have any enemies, he was friends with everyone,” recalled Yeshiva of Flatbush classmate Joseph Blumenthal.

Several of Daniel’s other friends echoed that description.

“He was a person who was very sincere and real about his Yiddishkeit and at the same time enjoyed having a good time with his friends, and enjoyed life. He took road trips. He was always the person who brought the camera because he wanted to have the memory. He was always the person who wanted to try new things,” said Daniel Bornstein, 25, of Chicago, Chernikoff’s roommate in an apartment in Washington Heights shared by several friends.

“Since he got engaged I’d never seen him happier. Always a big smile. It was a love-at-first-sight kind of thing,” recalled Elie Erreich of Manhattan. “We always used to joke around that the second he started going out with Ariella he was like a new man.”

Daniel was an accountant, studying for his CPA. He made it a habit to attend an early minyan each morning, even if he’d been up late, and learned Torah regularly, several friends said. He was also “a huge Mets fan, a big Rangers fan,” Blumenthal said.

Radio personality Nachum Segal was the head counselor of Camp Mesorah when he met five year old Daniel, whose mother, Peggy, worked at the camp. “He was my golf cart buddy,” Segal recalled. Later he knew Daniel as someone who “never lost his youthful demeanor to just enjoy life. As an adult also, he always had this boyish charm that radiated a love of life.”

Daniel Chernikoff is survived by his wife Ariella, his parents Allan and Peggy, and brothers Jason and Jeremy.