By John Hayden
A light has gone out in our community. A light that didn’t just shine from the middle of the pack, it lit the way for others to follow. A light that showed up in the darkest hour. Terry DeCarlo has passed away after battling neck and face cancer.
Even if you didn’t know him personally, even if you’ve never seen his name before now, there is a very good chance Terry touched your life. Among his services to our community, he served as Director of Marketing, Public Relations, and Events at Broward House for several years. He also worked as executive director of The Center, and LGBT+ education and advocacy nonprofit in Orlando.
And it was in Orlando where his light would shine brightest in our community’s darkest hour. In the hours after the massacre at PULSE Nightclub, Terry was on scene, trying to make sense of the senseless, and comfort devastated family members that rushed to the scene. In an interview with NPR, Terry said many of them arrived without even a change of clothes. He said he personally took one grieving mom to the mall so she could get clothes, and then returned to help her pick out a suit for her child’s burial.
Terry never thought twice about voluntarily immersing himself into a tragedy. State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) remembered DeCarlo during an interview on NPR. “Terry’s impact on the lives of so many people in Orlando is hard to overstate. I didn’t just see sadness. I saw genuine pain. They saw Terry DeCarlo as someone who helped them through the most difficult time in their lives. And they’re forever grateful, as I am.”
He’s survived by his husband, Bill Huelsman. Bill posted on Facebook, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to post this. But I need to let everyone know that I lost the love of my life last night. The cancer was just too aggressive for treatment.”
A GoFundMe page has been created in his memory: www.GoFundMe.com/F/Terry-DeCarlo.
