A memorial service for the late May Newburger was held at Harbor Links Club House last Sunday afternoon, where elected officials, friends, and members of Newburger’s family shared memories of the former state assemblywoman and North Hempstead Town supervisor.
“May lived until the very end, and was guided by one principal: do what is right,” said Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, reflecting on his visit with her shortly before she died.
Kaiman cited the creation Harbor Links Golf Course as one of Newburger’s most notable achievements.
“This was going to be an incinerator, then an industrial park. May turned it into the beautiful golf course that you see around you today,” Kaiman said.
The roadway leading to the Harbor Links club was recently renamed May Newburger Way in her honor.
The memorial began with a video tribute to Newburger featuring former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, Nassau County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, and Kaiman. The memorial was organized in themes honoring Newburger as mother and neighbor, advocate and activist, political icon, and mentor and friend.
“While there is a profound sadness that her remarkable life has come to an end, there is also comfort in knowing that we will always be reminded in tangible ways that she remains a part of us,” said state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
DiNapoli recalled Newburger consoling him when his mother passed away, saying, “May came to visit me the day after, and she didn’t say a thing. All she did was give me a hug that only May Newburger could.”
Rep. Gary Ackerman described Newburger as “the mother to everyone in this business.”
Newburger was born in Springfield, Mass. on Jan. 22, 1920. She was raised by her mother and an aunt and lived in Cuba for a time before returning to New York and graduating from Hunter College and Columbia University.
She became an activist opposed to the Vietnam War and participated in the civil rights march on Washington in 1963. She helped arrange a 1962 speaking engagement for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Great Neck in 1962 before witnessing his “I have a dream speech” during the Washington demonstration.
Newburger first venture into politics was unsuccessful, losing a race for New York State Senate in 1976. Two years later, she successfully ran for a state Assembly seat, which she held until 1986. She subsequently served two years as a town councilwoman and was elected North Hempstead supervisor in 1994, ultimately serving five terms in that office.
Town officials credit Newburger with transforming a $7 million budget deficit when she took office to a $7.7 million surplus by the time she left. Working to protect and preserve local lands and waterways, she is credited with closing landfills, and cleaning and sealing them.
Her son, Peter Newburger, recalled the experience of being raised by her.
“When I was a kid, she went beyond what standard parenthood was,” he said. “She was a class mother, den mother when I was in the cub scouts, and on once occasion had the entire fourth grade class over for lunch. Who else did anything like this but May?”
He drew laughs when he described his mother taking him to his doctor appointments leading to pituitary surgery in 1999, saying, “Except for her driving, it was all wonderful.”
He also recalled his mother visiting him during his chemotherapy therapy treatment for lymphoma last year, while she was battling cancer herself.
“She insisted on taking me out to dinner or making it for me. Everything she did, she did from the heart,” Peter said.
Arthur Gianelli, president and chief executive of NuHealth System, who had served as Newburger’s deputy said she told him she wanted her memorial to be “a celebration of her life.”
Gianelli called her “our matriarch, our mentor, our mother, and our friend.”
Naomi Feldheim, a longtime friend of Newburger, recalled meeting her when she was executive secretary of the Great Neck Committee for Human Rights. She remembered her forming an education committee to petition for an examination of social studies curricula incorrectly portraying slavery.
“May was the light that led the path we all followed,” Feldheim said.
Others in attendance to honor Newburger’s memory were Rep. Steve Israel, Nassau County Legislator Wayne Wink, Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, town council members Tom Dwyer, Angelo Ferrara, and Lee Seeman, and many others.
After the memorial, state Sen. Jack Martins said, “She was a formidable opponent, and a good friend. The entire community is better off because of May Newburger.”
