Arlene Carey Travis, who fought to keep the Inisfada house standing, died Monday after a lengthy illness.
Travis, a former resident of Great Neck and Manhasset, was 85.
Travis grew up in Malden, Mass., and attended Framingham State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in education. She taught art in an elementary school and, during the Korean War, began a correspondence with a soldier though a pen pal program.
In 1974, Travis and her partner Carol Aronson started Mansions & Millionaires to rehabilitate Gold Coast mansions along the North Shore by hosting designer showcases in them.
When the Village of North Hills was considering a plan to let the Inisfada Retreat House be torn down, Travis vocally opposed the removal of the historic mansion.
Travis and her husband of 62 years Larry raised two sons, Steven and Peter, in Great Neck. Through her life, Travis kept her hand in the art world, sketching and painting, during her last days in North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.
In addition to her husband and sons, Travis is survived by her sister, Sheila Teig of Stamford, Connecticut; two brothers, William Carey of Osterville, Mass., and Berton Carey of Lynnfield, Mass.; and four grandchildren. She was preceded in death by another brother, Richard Carey.
A memorial service was held at Riverside Nassau North Chapels in Great Neck Thursday. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to either Alzheimer’s Research or Hospice Care Network.
