Hundreds of mourners packed the Church of St. Teresa of Avila in Sleepy Hollow January 23 to pay their last respects to a United Nations diplomat and longtime Pocantico Hills resident who was killed in the earthquake in Haiti.

Luiz Carlos da Costa, 60, the highest ranking Brazilian in the United Nations, was found January 16, four days after the collapse of the Hotel Christopher in Port-au-Prince in Haiti, along with his superior, Tunesian Hedi Annabi.

Da Costa, who joined the United Nations in 1969, was in Haiti as the principal deputy special representative of the secretary general for Haiti and was second in command of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, a position he was named to in November 2006.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called da Costa “a legend of UN peacekeeping operations” and “a mentor to generations of UN staff.”

During his distinguished career, da Costa served in many capacities with the United Nations and was involved in many peacekeeping missions in such locations as Liberia and Kosovo.

At his funeral, his coffin was covered with a blue United Nations flag as it was carried out of the church amidst at least 600 attendees. He was laid to rest at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

He is survied by his wife, Maria, and two daughters, Anna Maria and Marianna, both of whom spoke at the funeral mass. The family lived for many years in Pocantico Hills before recently moving to Ossining.

Donations in Mr. da Costa’s memory may be made to either the Brazil Foundation (BrazilFoundation.org) or the United Nations Foundation, Central Emergency Response Fund, PO Box 96721, Washington D.C. 20090-6721.