46 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • DECEMBER 28, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
new year's
In Memoriam: Looking back on
who we lost in Queens this year
Max Kupferberg, 97, Jan. 4 -- A child of
Romanian immigrants, Kupferberg and his
brothers founded the Kepco Inc. manufacturing
company. With his wife of 65 years,
Selma, Max became one of Queens’ most
renowned philanthropists, supporting
numerous institutions including Queens
Botanical Garden and Queens College.
Lee “Q” O’Denat, 43, Jan. 23 -- Raised in
Hollis, O’Denat started WorldStarHipHop
in 2005 as a way for up and coming rappers
to share their mix tapes. Over time,
the website evolved and began to curate
viral videos, outrageous clips and fi ghting
videos. O’Denat had hopes that the website
would eventually create original content.
Jimmy Breslin, 88, March 19 -- Th e
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist was the
embodiment of Queens’ working class
roots. Breslin, who grew up in Ozone
Park, began his illustrious career as a
copy boy for the Long Island Press. He
eventually moved up and started writing
sports for the New York Journal
American. What made his career, however,
were his columns, which oft en profi
led ordinary people in extraordinary
circumstances.
Helen Marshall, 87, March 3 -- Th e
Don Rickles, 90, April 6 -- Truly an
equal opportunity offender, Rickles
became one of the nation’s most notorious
insult comics and was sarcastically
nicknamed “Mr. Warmth.”
Rickles grew up in Jackson Heights
and attended Elmhurst’s Newtown
High School. While older residents
may know Rickles from his appearances
on “The Tonight Show Starring
Johnny Carson,” younger generations
know the man by his voice, as he
played “Mr. Potato Head” in the Toy
Story movie franchise.
Th omas Daily, 89, May 15 -- Th e
sixth Bishop of Brooklyn spent his fi nal
years in residence at the Immaculate
Conception Center in Douglaston. A
native of Boston, Daily was appointed
leader of the Diocese of Brooklyn and
Queens in 1990. Over the next 13 years,
he consolidated a number of fi nancially
troubled churches and schools while
also investing in repairs to much-needed
churches and arranging for Pope John
Paul II to celebrate Mass at Aqueduct
Racetrack. His tenure ended in 2003
amid the child sex abuse scandal that
rocked the Catholic Church.
Gertrude McDonald, 100, May 23
-- A trailblazer in Queens politics,
in 1968, McDonald became the first
woman to run for elective office as a
Democrat in the borough. She ran for
a seat on the New York State Assembly
and although she lost, local leaders
such as Assemblywoman Catherine
Nolan credit her for inspiring other
women to run. McDonald also served
on Community Board 2 and was president
of the 108th Precinct Community
Council for a time.
Prodigy, 42, June 20 -- Born Albert
Julia Harrison, 97, Aug. 3 -- Th e
long-time Flushing civic activist was
elected to the Assembly in 1984 and,
aft er just two years in offi ce, won the
City Council seat that she would ultimately
hold for the following 15 years.
Described as a staunch Democrat, she
advocated for women’s rights, senior
services and education. In 1996, Julia
Harrison faced backlash when a New
York Times article quoted her making
a series of anti-Asian remarks. In a 2011
article in the New York Daily News, the
then-91-year-old said her words were
“twisted and spun.”
Michael Simanowitz, 45, Sept. 2
-- One of Queens’ most beloved civic
leaders, Simanowitz was elected in 2011
to the Flushing-based Assembly seat
previously held by his mentor, Nettie
Mayersohn. He was active in various
civic groups and was an active member
of the 107th Precinct Auxiliary Unit.
Congressman Joe Crowley remembered
Simanowitz as someone “who
emulated all that’s good in an elected
official.”
BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
From political fi gures to entertainers,
Queens mourned the loss this year of a
number of high-profi le individuals whose
roots run deep in the “World’s Borough.”
As 2017 draws to a close, let’s recall
some of these notable individuals and
their contributions.
three-term Queens borough president
entered politics in 1974 when she was
elected Democratic district leader. She
later was elected to the Assembly and
served three terms in the City Council
before being elected in 2001 to succeed
Claire Shulman as borough president. As
borough president, Marshall championed
education, securing hundreds of millions
in city funds toward school projects
across the borough. She also worked to
boost tourism and supported the expansion
of the Billie Jean King National
Tennis Center.
Johnson, the Queens native was one
half of the wildly popular hip-hop
duo Mobb Deep. Despite battling
sickle cell anemia, the complications
of which ultimately claimed
his life, Prodigy and Havoc (Kejuan
Muchita) burst onto the hip-hop
scene in the early ’90s with their
debut album “Juvenile Hall” and
made it big with their sophomore
album “The Infamous,” which features
one of the pair’s most iconic
songs, “Shook Ones Pt. II.”