Lucretia Steele, the former deputy mayor of Manorhaven and a community advocate, died of ovarian cancer on April 17. She was 71 years old.
Steele served in the Manorhaven village government from 2011 to 2015, as a trustee from 2011 to 2013 and the latter years as deputy mayor.
While on the board, she was a member of the Manorhaven Revival Party along with her fellow trustee at the time, Dorit Zeevi-Farrington. The party held a majority on the Board of Trustees during former Mayor Giovanna Giunta’s administration.
Since her time as deputy mayor, she shifted her efforts towards the Manorhaven Action Committee, a group she co-founded, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for the community of Manorhaven.
She told Blank Slate Media in a previous email that she, Gary Maynard and Zeevi-Farrington formed the group at a village ceremony on Sept. 11, 2015.
She said the three “decided a civic organization was needed to help overcome the local governmental gridlock.”
Most recently, Steele was vocal in the debate over a proposed three-story apartment building on Manhasset Isle, which she opposed.
Rita Di Lucia, a current trustee in Manorhaven who also served on the village board with Steele, said in a statement, “She will be missed and her efforts will not be forgotten.”
She was “a passionate person and was dedicated to the residents of Manorhaven” during her time in office and “continued to stay involved in the community and was very instrumental in the MAC committee,” Di Lucia said.
Steele, from Great Neck, moved to Port Washington in her early 60s. She was a special education teacher in New York City for 30 years and received a master’s degree in education and Spanish from Queens College, according to a 2015 report in Newsday.
Efforts to reach her family were unavailing.
A waterfront memorial service to celebrate Steele’s life will take place at Bay Walk Park in Port Washington North on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the park’s gazebo.
