By Errol A. Cockfield Jr.
Staffwriter

    In the hours before he died in a car accident in Deer Park early yesterday, Mark Aliaga, 16, was celebrating his grandparents 50th wedding anniversary with the rest of his family.

    Yesterday, his Deer Park neighborhood was shaken by the loss of one of its most loved sons, an athlete and volunteer junior firefighter, who would have started his senior year at Deer Park High School this fall.

    Shortly before 1 a.m., Miguel R., 17, a close friend and classmate, picked Aliaga up from his house. They were on their way to visit a friend. But as they drove east on Central Avenue, Miguel R. swerved to avoid an opossum in the road, police said. He lost control of the 1992 Chevrolet and the front end struck a tree.

    Det. John A. McLeer of the First Precinct said both teenagers were wearing their seat belts and Miguel R. was not driving at an excessive speed. But the impact probably killed Aliaga immediately, Mcleer said.
    "If the car had stopped three feet to the right, it would have been nothing more than two flat tires," McLeer said. "There's no reason for it to have happened."

    Paramedics tried in vain to revive Aliaga, McLeer said. He was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip where he was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. Miguel R. was taken to the same hospital and treated for a fractured right ankle and several cuts on his face. Doctors operated on the ankle, and a nursing

supervisor said Miguel R. was in stable condition.

    Evidence of the accident was still fresh yesterday afternoon at the intersection of Central and West 14st Street, with bark missing from the tree and glass littering the sidewalk. A procession of friends and family passed in cars and on foot, laying flowers and cards beside the tree. "So many things I wish I could have told you." read one of the cards. "You'll live in my heart forever." Some mourners stood around the tree in shock, while others wiped away tears and embraced.

    A short distance away at the Aliaga home, family members gathered on the stoop marveling at how joy - at the anniversary party - had been followed so suddenly by pain.

    "You went from one big feast into another direction." said one family member, an older man who did not want to be identified. "That's what's so tragic."

    Friends said Aliaga and Miguel R. are popular in their Deer Park neighborhood. Aliaga, the second of three brothers, played soccer and lacrosse and was a member of the Deer Park High School band. He also took accelerated courses and volunteered as a junior firefighter with Deer Park Fire Department. They said he loved life and loved to smile.

    "He was a great kid," said Jack Wiczynski, 19, a friend who graduated from Deer Park High School and now attends the State University at Stony Brook. "He never got mad at anything. He was too good."

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