Norma Spiritis, 69, Longtime Teacher in Long Beach [1999]
Norma Spiritis, a longtime fifth - grade teacher at Lindell Elementary School in Long Beach, died of pancreatic cancer last Thursday at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. She was 69.
Spiritis was diagnosed with the cancer in May, 1998, but returned to teach all of last year and even taught the first two weeks of this school year, which began Sept. 7.
"Almost nothing could keep her away from her children," said her son, Glenn, of Long Beach, who is the commissioner of community development for the Village of Hempstead. "Even on the day 16 months ago - after she was discharged from the hospital following an operation for the cancer - she demanded that I take her to see her students graduate to middle school." Spiritis, who attended college at the same time her son Glenn did, had taught in the Long Beach School District 27 years, seven in the old Magnolia Elementary School, and the last 20 at Lindell. Besides her regular duties at the school, she ran the anti - bias program, the student government, and the DARE anti - drug program, all as a volunteer.
"She was a phenomenal teacher, a very special member of our staff," said Lydia Parris, Lindell's principal. "She has left special memories to many people - students, parents and colleagues. She was a super friend who always went the distance for us." Although Jewish and a longtime member of Temple Beth Sholom in Long Beach, Spiritis established a strong rapport with Molloy College, a Roman Catholic institution in Rockville Centre from which she graduated in January, 1973. "I would often come into her house to see a nun or two seated with her around a table," her son said. "And it seemed to me, more often than not, that her student teachers came from Molloy College." Grace O'Leary, the administrative assistant in the education department at Molloy, called Spiritis "one of our delightful graduates." "At our annual dinner for cooperating teachers, she would always say how happy she was to return to the halls of Molloy," O'Leary said. "She just loved it here. Just a couple of months ago she sent me a check for $25 and told me to buy a book for the department's research center. She was always doing things like that." She earned her master's degree at Adelphi University in Garden City in 1975.
Spiritis' husband, Martin, a small - building contractor, died in 1994. They had been married 45 years, having married as teenagers in Brooklyn. They moved to Long Island in the early 1950s, living first in Levittown, then in Island Park, and last, since 1961, in Lido Beach.
Spiritis' son, Glenn, said his friends told him his mother was "everybody's second mother. And she certainly was the mother, in essence, of her three grandchildren since they were babies ..." In addition to Glenn, she is also survived by two more sons, Scott, of Long Beach, and Mark, of Lido Beach.
A funeral service was held Friday at the Riverside Boulevard Chapel in Hewlett.
Interment
followed at Wellwood Cemetery in Farmingdale.
The family asks that those wishing to make a donation in her memory contact Lindell Elementary School in Long Beach for information about a scholarship fund.
John A. Dennen, 38, Marine Mechanic, Powerboat Racer [1999]
Sometimes, it looked as though Bolton Landing resident John A. Dennen Jr. and his crew were flying around as they crashed the oceans in pursuit of his passion: offshore powerboat racing.
"I was always a bit scared," his mother, Stella Anaston of Riverside, Conn., said yesterday.
But it wasn't the risky sport that took the life of her 38-year-old son, a graduate of Massapequa High School.
"J.D." - a nickname he was given while working at marinas in Seaford and Massapequa - died of brain cancer on Oct. 28 in Glens Falls Hospital.
A resident of Long Island up to six years ago, Dennen left behind his wife, Rose Virginia, and 5-year-old daughter, Katelyn Rose, both of Bolton Landing in upstate New York.
"He called his daughter his little angel," Anaston said. "He said the greatest love of his life was being a father." Born in New York City in 1960, Dennen was raised in Massapequa.
By the time Dennen was 15, his mother said her son went to work in marinas in Seaford and Massapequa, where he developed a reputation as a good marine mechanic. It was also there that he developed a taste for offshore powerboat racing.
"He raced all over the place," Anaston said. "He went down to Florida, when they held races there." In July, 1993, Dennen married Rose Virginia in Medford, and Katelyn Rose was born a few months later.
In Bolton Landing, he worked as a marine mechanic at Chic's Marina for the past five years.
He was a devoted fan of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt and enjoyed high-speed races, his mother said.
Dennen also is survived by his grandmother, Constance Guzzi of Stony Brook; his stepfather, Henry Anaston of Riverside; his father, John A. Sr. and his stepmother, Maureen Dennen of Chittenango, N.Y.; his brother, Greg Dennen; a nephew, Jeremy of Northridge, Calif.; a sister, Jonna Dennen - Miner of Chittenango; one stepsister; three stepbrothers and two aunts.
Funeral services and burial were held in Bolton Landing Oct. 31.
Donations may be made in his memory to NABTT (New Approaches to Brain Tumor Treatments), at The Johns Hopkins Hospital Oncology Center, Room 129, 600 N.
Wolfe St., Baltimore, Md. 21287.
Gary Politi, 38, Decorated 16 - Year Police Officer [1999]
With Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Police Commissioner Howard Safir and top-ranking chiefs in attendance, the department bid farewell yesterday to Sgt. Gary Politi, who fatally shot himself last week.
During a funeral mass at St. Mel's Roman Catholic Church in Flushing, Queens, Safir eulogized Politi, a decorated 16 - year veteran who was a member of his security detail, as "a brother," "a friend" and a member of his extended family.
"My wife and kids loved him and he loved us," Safir said.
Politi, 38, died Friday at St. Vincent's Hospital from what Safir said at the time appeared to be a "a self-inflicted gunshot wound." The incident took place at the apartment of Politi's girlfriend near Union Square in Manhattan.
Yesterday, Insp. Michael Collins, a police spokesman, said the shooting "is still under investigation." "He was sensitive, smart and the world's greatest prankster," Safir added, relating how after Politi discovered a nail in one of Safir's car tires and someone in the department's maintenance section refused to fix it, saying "We don't do plugs," Politi ordered four new tires for Safir's car, although it had only been driven 1,500 miles.
"He was forever taking care of people," Safir said.
Politi was estranged from his wife and had a 14-year-old daughter Jacqueline, to whom Safir, the mayor and police chaplain, the Rev. Robert Romano, addressed a portion of their remarks.
"You were his princess," said Romano to her in his eulogy.
"We all loved your dad. We all love you," Safir said.
Mayor Giuliani said, "He would do anything for his friends on the detail...he cared so much for other people. He made other people happier about their own lives. And there was one person he loved more than anyone else: his daughter Jackie." The mayor continued by saying "Let Jackie hear a standing ovation for a wonderful dad." The audience rose and for over a minute, the church was flooded with applause.
Joseph Suozzi, 46, Banker [2000]
By all accounts, Joseph Suozzi was consistent. In high school, when he took the mound in Glen Cove's Campanella Baseball League, his first pitch was always a strike.
By all accounts, Joseph Suozzi was always willing to help. When the son of a friend from Japan needed his help while living in the United States, Suozzi came to his rescue.
And by all accounts, Joseph Suozzi lived an ideal life. He had traveled the world, had called three continents home, and had a loving and supportive wife, daughter and son.
On the rare occasion when Suozzi found a moment to himself at the home he kept on Glen Cove's West Island, he occasionally would go down to the water, slip his tiny Sailfish into the water, and sit in Hempstead Harbor smoking a cigar and soaking it all in.
On Feb. 25, Suozzi died at his London home from a heart attack. He was 46.
"This can't be," Suozzi's 12-year-old son, Patrick, said to his aunt, Rosemary Lloyd, yesterday. "We had so much left to do still."
Born in 1954, Suozzi was the oldest son of Joseph and Marguerite Suozzi. He attended St. Patrick's Elementary School in Glen Cove and Chaminade High School in Mineola. He graduated cum laude from Boston College and entered Northeastern, where he earned his master's degree in accounting. He later earned his law degree from St. John's Law School.
In addition to being an attorney, Suozzi also became a CPA, working in tax accounting for Arthur Young & Co. in Manhattan before moving to the mergers and acquisitions department at Morgan Stanley in Manhattan in 1986. He later established and managed the firm's Tokyo and Hong Kong Individual Investor Services Departments. Suozzi joined Credit Suisse First Boston as chief operating officer in Tokyo in 1990. He transferred to that firm's London office in 1992, and in 1997, he joined Deutsche Bank in London as deputy chief operating officer.
But wherever he was working, he kept in touch with his family in Glen Cove.
"I got a fax from him last week. He was trying to give me advice long distance on my career," said his brother, Glen Cove Mayor Thomas Suozzi. "I guess I didn't do what he wanted right away, because he sent me another one a couple of days later. It said, 'Hello, is anybody home?'"
In fact, Suozzi had long been dispensing advice and providing a sympathetic ear for anyone who needed help.
"The outpouring of support from his colleagues and co-workers has been amazing," said Lloyd, his sister. "We're learning how much he was loved by everyone he came in contact with."
A wake is scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. at the McLaughlin Kramer Megiel Funeral Home at 220 Glen St. in Glen Cove, and a funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Patrick's Church in Glen Cove at 10 a.m Monday.
Longtime friends from his baseball - playing days will stand shoulder - to - shoulder with those who have only known him for a few years, Lloyd said. The young Japanese man whom Suozzi helped when he was having trouble in college has called to ask whether he could come, and one co - worker from London has called to say he already had decided to name his first born son after the man whom had only known for a year.
"Everyone loved him," Mayor Suozzi said. "Everyone. He was consistent about that, too."
In addition to his parents, brother, sister and son, Suozzi is also survived by his wife, Maria Suozzi; daughter, Maggie, 16; and two other brothers, William Suozzi of Glen Rock, N.J., and Christopher Suozzi of Upper Brookville.
John Anton Moravec, 74, Retired Security Officer [2000]
John Anton Moravec, a retired construction worker and security officer, died June 4 at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside from a heart attack.
The Freeport resident was 74.
Moravec was a member of Local 46 of the United Metal Lathers from 1948 to 1978, when he retired. Among the edifices he worked on were the World Trade Center, the Verazzano Narrows Bridge, the World's Fair Expo building in Flushing, Queens, and numerous elevated bridges for the Long Island Rail Road.
He later did security work for individuals, public institutions and private businesses. His longest period of security work was with the Rockville Centre School District, from which he retired in 1995 after 10 years. Earlier he had worked seven years as chief of security for North Shore Towers in Great Neck.
He also worked security at several hospitals in the county, including South Nassau.
In 1943, Moravec joined the U.S. Navy after lying about his age. He was only 16. He served as a signalman-striker on the S.S. Hamel, a destroyer escort usually berthed in Norfolk, Va., that also made runs in the Pacific Theatre. He received the Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and certificates for a vaudeville act he and others did onboard the ship as entertainment. He was honorably discharged in 1946. And he later served in the reserves for about four years.
Survivors include two sons, Kerry of Fort Plains, N.Y., and John D., of Freeport; a daughter, Kathy Reilly, of Freeport; two brothers, Joseph of Fort Lee, N.J., and William, of Dayton, Ohio; a sister, Helen Dunn, of Manhattan; and four grandchildren.
Services were held Thursday at Hungerford and Clarke Funeral Home in Freeport, with interment
following at Calverton National Cemetery in Riverhead.
Donations in his name may be sent to the Alzheimer's Foundation, 5 Channel Dr., Port Washington, NY 11050.
