After a long battle with cancer, Phyllis Lombardi died peacefully in her home on November 5 at the age of 79.
Born February 22, 1935, she grew up in Flushing and Great Neck, NY with her brother, Robert Safarik.
In pursuit of her desire to be an English teacher, she attended the College of New Rochelle and received her Master’s degree from Hofstra University, where she met her beloved husband, William Lombardi.
Her love for English shined through in all aspects of her life, not only as a high school English teacher for 21 years in the Middle Country School District, but as a free-lance writer for the Suffolk Times and Dan’s Papers and her uncanny ability to just talk with people about anything and everything. She was a wonderful conversationalist.
Her greatest love was that of their three children, all adopted through the Angel Guardian Home in Brooklyn, and raised in Selden, NY. They moved to their current home in Cutchogue, NY after the children were grown. She was a beloved community member and loved the North Fork, actively participating with the Cutchogue Homemakers, the North Fork Parish Outreach, and the Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild in Cutchogue, not to mention her free-lance writing.
There was many a day she could be found in her sewing room making quilts and placemats and bibs or sitting on the back deck with her notebook composing fun, quirky and thoughtful articles. She was loved by all and will be sorely missed. She is survived by her husband, Bill; her brother, Robert; her three children, David Lombardi, Christine Buswell, and Stephen Lombardi; and her two grandchildren, Brian Buswell and wife Chelsea Buswell, and Kaitlyn Buswell.
Visitation will be Sunday, November 9 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Coster-Heppner Funeral Home, 32470 Main Road, Cutchogue. Funeral Mass will be Monday, November 10, at 12 p.m. at Our Lady of Ostrabrama Catholic Church in Cutchogue. Burial to follow at Sacred Heart Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to the Angel Guardian Home in Brooklyn, NY.
