Alan Senecal's 18-year-old grandson Ezra Schwartz was killed Thursday in a terrorist attack in Israel
Ezra Schwarz, the Massachusetts teenager with ties to Edison, was killed Thursday in Israel in a terrorist attack. EDISON -- Alan Senecal was having a difficult time finding the right words to describe his grandson, an 18-year-old, who was killed Thursday in a terrorist attack in Israel.
"He was supposed to spend a year in Israel studying and then go to Rutgers here in New Brunswick next year," Senecal said of Ezra Schwartz, who lived in Sharon, Massachusetts. "He was a good, sweet, boy. I can't think of anything else to say."
The grandfather said his grandson was a real sports fan who loved football, baseball, hockey and skiing.
Schwartz graduated in June from Maimonides School in Boston, according to his grandfather, and lived in the Boston suburb of Sharon with his parents, Aari and Ruth Schwartz, three brothers and sister.
"He is the most popular kid," said Tammy Thurm of her nephew. "Everybody loved him. He was so witty, so funny. He had a mischievous streak no negativity. He wanted to make people laugh. He was a very smart young man."
Thurm said Schwartz was with school mates in Israel Thursday, on their way home from a community service project where they were constructing a park that was being built to honor three boys killed by terrorists last year when they were gunned down.
Authorities in Israel said a Palestinian motorist opened fire on a line of cars in traffic in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
The Israel military said he then intentionally rammed his vehicle into a group of pedestrians and soldiers shot at the attacker.
The attacker killed at least two people, including Schwartz and an Israeli. Another Palestinian also was killed but authorities said they are uncertain if the victim was hit by the attacker's fire or that of Israeli forces.
Related: Palestinian attacks in Tel Aviv, West Bank leave 5 dead
"It is hard to express how we feel," she said. "It hasn't really settled. We're broken. All his little brothers and sister. There is a very big hole."
Thurm said Schwartz "had so much to give the world."
"He was very athletic," she said. "Sports was very big in his family. He had just sent a letter to a baseball league in Israel. The league just got his email before everything happened."
Thurm said Schwartz's body is being flown back to Massachusetts from Israel, accompanied by Schwartz's aunt, who lives in Israel. There will be a ceremony at the airport Saturday night.
She said the funeral will be Sunday in Sharon, Mass. Although the family is Orthodox Jewish, the service will be held at a reform synagogue because, "the synagogue my sister and brother-in-law belong to isn't big enough to hold the number of people who are attending."
Thurm said people have called the family from around the country and Israel, reaching out to "give their condolences."
She also lauded the testimonials written on Ezra's Facebook pages.
"They are so beautiful," Thurm said. "My sister said she can't look at them right now. But I know, when she's ready, they will be a wonderful tribute and memory for the family. My sister and brother-in-law are remarkable people who have remarkable strength and our whole family is coming together for them."
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
