Relatives of Key Bridge worker say goodbye in Honduras: ‘Mi muchachito’ (2024)

Seven weeks after Maynor Suazo Sandoval died when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, his family in Honduras finally buried him more than 1,800 miles away in his hometown.

A commercial flight bearing the remains of the 38-year-old worker arrived at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Ramón Villeda Morales Airport. At the Amor Eterno funeral home in San Pedro Sula, his family grieved openly over the box, labeled with his name and flight number, that held his coffin.

His family then took Suazo Sandoval’s body to his hometown of Azacualpa in Santa Bárbara — a town in an agricultural region where his brother Martín said he was beloved for his generosity — for a Wednesday burial. The youngest of eight siblings, Suazo Sandoval financially supported a local soccer league in Azacualpa, motivated by his belief that the sport could rescue young people from the wrong path.

Children who play on the league’s teams accompanied the funeral procession Wednesday through the streets of Azacualpa to the town’s cemetery.

Suazo Sandoval immigrated about 18 years ago to the United States, followed later by another brother, Carlos, and a sister, Norma. He built a life in Owings Mills, where he married and raised four children.

Maynor’s widow, Bertalia Verenice Martinez, said in Honduras that she made the difficult decision to repatriate her husband’s body for the sake of his elderly mother, whose health suffered after her son’s death.

“He always said he loved the United States because it gave him everything he had, and he loved Honduras because this is the country where he was born, where he grew up,” she said in Spanish.

Early on March 26, Suazo Sandoval was on the Key Bridge repairing potholes when the container ship Dali struck one of the bridge’s support columns, sending the span plunging into the Patapsco River. Six construction workers died, while a seventh member of the crew survived the fall.

Divers retrieved Suazo Sandoval’s body in early April and his family held services in Baltimore County before repatriating his body Tuesday to Honduras for burial. Also on Tuesday, teams recovered the final missing body, that of José Mynor López.

In Azacualpa, the Suazo Sandoval family held a wake at Fountain of Life Church in the center of town. The flag of his favorite Honduran soccer club, F.C. Motagua, was draped over his casket, along with the flag of Honduras. Bouquets of flowers, some in the shape of a cross, surrounded the coffin. An enlarged selfie of Suazo Sandoval in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., greeted mourners at the door.

His mother, Rosa Emerita Sandoval Paz, said she was glad to be able to bury her son in his hometown. She lost her husband, the family patriarch, less than a year ago.

“I am content to be able to have my little boy and bury him. It’s what I most wanted,” she said in Spanish, calling her son “mi muchachito.”

About 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, relatives took Suazo Sandoval’s body from the church to the house where he lived for many years for a family gathering.

A crowd then accompanied his body through the streets to the municipal cemetery, with dozens of young soccer players marching in single-file lines by team beside the hearse. Some members of the procession hoisted umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. Temperatures above 100 degrees were forecast for Wednesday in Azacualpa.

Martín Suazo described his younger brother as a loving person committed to social causes.

“My brother was very loved in the municipality because he supported many people. Being a soccer lover, he believed this was a way to encourage children and that is why he supported 16 youth teams.”

Through tears, his widow said that the family was going through a difficult time and that her husband had always treated her with a lot of love and respect.

At 9:40 a.m., after the painful goodbye, dirt began to cover the coffin in the place where he will rest forever.

While family and friends gathered in Honduras to honor and bury Suazo Sandoval, brother Carlos and sister Norma stayed behind in Maryland. They attended a Mass on Saturday at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Southeast Baltimore’s Highlandtown neighborhood that marked 40 days since the bridge collapse.

Father Ako Walker asked attendees for six minutes of silence, one for each worker who died. Walker, the pastor of one of Baltimore’s largest Spanish-speaking congregations, reflected on the spiritual meaning of the word “permanecer” — to stay or remain — during his homily. After 40 days of understandable grief and of asking “why,” it was time to trust in God and the peace that faith can provide, Walker said.

Carlos Suazo Sandoval and his sister, Norma, sat together in a pew near the front of the church wearing T-shirts bearing a photo of their brother’s face, his name and the words “Mi Heroe.” Mourners in Honduras wore the same shirts.

When Walker asked Carlos if he wanted to tell people about his brother, he waved his hand, answering “Después,” or later.

After the Mass, a woman sitting behind the family approached the siblings and embraced them. “I’m Honduran, too,” she told them in Spanish.

La Prensa reporters Eleana Enamorado and Kevin Mercado contributed to this article from Honduras. This coverage is part of an ongoing partnership between The Baltimore Sun and La Prensa.