Alice Fishman, the former mayor of the Village of Russell Gardens, died on Saturday. She was 81.
Fishman, who lived in Great Neck for nearly five decades with her husband Dr. Melvin Fishman, dedicated much of her adult life to public service and the raising of her two sons, Barry and Charles.
She also helped negotiate Great Neck’s first peninsula-wide cable deal as a founder of the Great Neck Cable Commission, and was a pioneer as the first woman to serve as trustee and mayor in Russell Gardens, her son Barry said.
“I honestly think that [her public service] started out just in the fact that she wanted to be involved in anything that involved my brother and I,” Barry said. “It grew out of a desire to make things better for the community.”
Fishman served as mayor of Russell Gardens from 1985 until 1989, said Dan Nachmanoff, a Great Neck Park District commissioner who served with Fishman as a trustee and was among the speakers at her funeral services Wednesday at Nassau North Chapel in Great Neck
“She was a kind, caring person and very committed to helping others and very much involved with the running of our village for many years,” Nachmanoff said.
Nachmanoff credited her with an uncommon dedication to public service, citing her work with the Community Organization for Parents and Youth, a Great Neck-based group that provides services and mental health treatment to youth.
“For many, many years she was on the board of that organization,” Nachmanoff said. “She never really sought any special recognition or anything like that. She was just a good, kind person.”
Fishman was born in Brooklyn in 1932. She attended Midwood High School and New York University, working as a buyer at the department store Abraham and Straus before marrying her husband Melvin in 1956.
She moved to Great Neck with Melvin and their two children in 1964, and focused on raising her sons and her growing role in community affairs.
Her son Barry described his and his brother’s home life as idyllic.
“It was great. I used to tell my friends that it was the “Leave it to Beaver” family,” he said.
And Fishman’s community involvement began with her children as well, Barry added.
“It started out with the schools. She was involved with all the PTAs,” he said.
Fishman adopted a number of roles in Great Neck serving with South High School’s Parent Teacher Association, the Great Neck Village Officials Association, in Russell Garden’s local government and on the Great Neck Cable Commission. Before winning election as mayor Fishman was president of the Russel Gardens Association, the homeowners group that oversees much of the village’s homes.
Her public service continued to near the end of her life, Barry said – as recently as last year she maintained her role on the village’s Design Review Board.
Alice Fishman is survived by husband Dr. Melvin Fishman and her sons Barry and Charles.
