28 times • AUGUST 25, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com oobbiittuuaarriieess Evelyn DeCoursey, president of 110th Precinct Community Council, passes away BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] @AngelaMatua Evelyn DeCoursey, the president of the 110th Precinct Community Council for almost 10 years, passed away on Aug. 20, the NYPD said. DeCoursey, a Corona resident, presided over Community Council meetings and helped to establish a strong relationship between cops and Corona and Elmhurst residents. She was 82. “Evelyn was a pillar in the community,” said Janine Rivera, community affairs officer for the 110th Precinct. “Her significant contributions to the entire Corona/Elmhurst community and her police family at the 110th Precinct and throughout Patrol Borough Queens North will never be forgotten.” Deputy Inspector Ronald Leyson, who used to be commanding officer of the 110th Precinct, spoke highly of DeCoursey and said she helped to “bridge the gap” between communities and the NYPD. DeCoursey raised money for National Night Out, a yearly event Send a memoriam to Times Newsweekly. Call 718-821-7500 aimed at creating stronger ties between the NYPD and residents, and held a Christmas party every December where Santa would hand out presents to children living in Elmhurst and Corona. After the assassinations of Police Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in December 2014, DeCoursey and the community council held a candlelight vigil at the precinct, he said. She also attended every Remembrance Ceremony held at the 110th Precinct to commemorate the victims of 9/11. Leyson also asked DeCoursey to establish a Cop of the Month award ceremony every month along with a Cop of the Year, Supervisor of the Year and Civilian of the Year for the 110th Precinct. “Any help I ever asked of her, she never hesitated,” Leyson said. “She was a blessing to the community and the NYPD. The loss of Evelyn is a void in the community that will be difficult, or impossible, to fill but the good she has done will live on through her selfless acts and volunteerism.” A viewing will be held on Aug. 23 at the Leo F. Kearns Funeral Home, located at 61-40 Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego Park. It will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Aug. 24 at 9:45 a.m. at Resurrection Ascension Church located at 85-25 61st Rd. in Rego Park, followed by interment at Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens. DONALD GITLITZ died on Sunday, August 14, at the age of 84 after a long battle with cancer. Born in 1932, Don married his high school sweetheart, Mae. After graduating from Fordham University, he went into the Army and became a lieutenant. Donald was a lifelong entrepreneur who started the American Electrofax Corporation in 1965. He also had a love of dinosaurs and helped launch “Dinosaurus” magazine as its executive vice president in 1994. Donald is survived by Mae; children Suann and George, Gail and Tom, Craig and Maria, and Donna and Jeff; and grandchildren Tara, Sheri, Melissa, Shannon, Evan, Alex, Jennifer and Joseph. Services were offered on Thursday, August 18, at the William J. Burke and Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, Saratoga Springs, NY. He was interred on Friday, August 19, at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Schuylerville, NY. In lieu flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sacred Heart Youth Program, 83-17 78th Ave., Glendale, NY 11385. +++ GARFIELD GUNDERSEN of Glendale died on Sunday, August 7, at the age of 88. He was predeceased by his wife Margaret and his son Lawrence. He is survived by daughters Janet Leonhardt, Linda Schaefer, Susan Vignola and Patricia Sena; sons-inlaw Kenny and John; brother Lawrence; sister Louise Mercer; 11 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. A Mass of Christian Burial was offered on Wednesday, August 9, followed by interment alongside his wife at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village, under the direction of Hess-Miller Funeral Home, 64-19 Metropolitan Ave., Middle Village. Susan Baer, Aviation director and trailblazer, dies at 65 BY michaEL tabrizi [email protected] @RidgewoodTimes Susan M. Baer, an aviation director who in her 37 years at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey worked to smash glass ceilings, died on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016 at the age of 65. She devoted nearly four decades of her life to transportation and to promoting opportunities for women to earn leadership positions in areas of government that were once considered to be “boys clubs.” The Barnard/NYU educated trailblazer began her lifelong passion with a private agency in the Panama Canal and she worked there until President Carter began turning over control of the Canal Zone over to the Panamanians. Back in the U.S., Baer would begin what would become a fruitful and fulfilling tenure with the Port Authority in 1976. Her 37-year career with the Port Authority began with her managing the Bus Terminal and the Lincoln Tunnel. She was then assigned to the Aviation Department, which is the largest aviation system in the country. There she would begin to wear the two hats that would define her legacy, one of a leading public servant and one of a mentor to other women. Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye said it best when he said Susan Baer’s career was “one of many firsts.” She was the first woman to head multiple major transportation hubs and she was the first female director of aviation. Though she was first she did not want to be alone, telling USA Today that “first is fine, but I don’t want to be the only.” She said in the interview that “It was hard for us to get here but we ought to be making it easier for the people who are coming behind us.” Papavero Funeral Home • Newly Renovated Facilities on One Level • Handicap Accessible – Ample Parking Facilities • In-Chapel DVD Video Tributes with Plasma Displays • Cremation and Direct Burial Services • Guidance with Pre-Planned Funeral Arrangements • 24-Hour a day Personal Service • Grief Resource Center Seneca Chapels • Pre-Planning • Serving the Financial Burden of All Families in Their Time of Need • A One Level Concept of a Modern Funeral Home • Large Chapels • Newly Renovated • Large Parking Facility on Premises Family Owned & Operated for Five Generations 72-27 Grand Avenue • Maspeth, NY 11378 (718)651-3535 • www.papaverofuneralhome.com 494 SENECA AVE. RIDGEWOOD, NY 11385 718.366.1900 • www.senecachapels.com
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