Elan Ganeles will be missed by scores of friends for his outgoing personality, curiosity and remarkable intelligence, according to his younger brothers.
Ganeles, 26, was preparing for a friend's wedding on Monday when he was shot and killed in his car in Israel. Three Palestinians are under arrest in connection with the case, according to the Israeli military.
Thursday, the day after their brother's funeral in Israel and hours after landing back in the U.S., Gabe and Simon Ganeles met with reporters in West Hartford to talk about Elan.
Gabe studies in Israel and spent the last week with Elan, saying, "We went touring around the north of Israel, his favorite thing to do, tour. We went to museums, historical sites, hikes... beautiful things that Elan found out about and wanted to see."
Friends and family alike have noted that intellectual curiosity. "Elan loved learning. He loved knowing things, he loved knowledge," says Simon. "He majored in two totally unrelated fields (at Columbia University): neuroscience and sustainable development, just because he loved learning things so much."
Their parents, Andrew and Carolyn, both doctors in the Hartford area, chose not to speak to reporters at this point, but eulogized their son Wednesday in Israel.
"He was such a gift in our life," said Carolyn. "So many attributes, a whole life of so much potential. He wanted so much to see the world, to soak up every aspect of all the beauty, all the history, all the culture."
Several thousand people came to the funeral site to support the family.
"It was really powerful to see so many people turn out," says Gabe. "We didn't expect so many people to show up, but it was so powerful to see so many people come... such a sense of unity and brotherhood."
