Renee M. Danowski-Linnen of Aquebogue died April 22, 2016 at Peconic Bay Medical Center. She was 59 years old.
Born in Riverhead on Jan. 12, 1957, she was the daughter of John and Georgianna (Berkowski) Danowski.
She was a graduate of St. Isidore School and Riverhead High School (Class of 1975). Renee always wanted to be a nurse and immediately went on to earn her certification as a licensed practical nurse. She went to work at Riverhead Care Center and worked there for the next 40 years.
“It was her passion. She loved taking care of everybody,” said her husband of 32 years, Mark Linnen.
Renee met her future husband in 1979 at Freddie’s Pub in Riverhead when he “finally got up the nerve to talk to her,” he recalled. He’d seen her dancing at a club in the Hamptons a few weeks earlier and was struck by her beauty and the pretty dress she was wearing, he recalled.
They were married on Nov. 26, 1983 at St. Isidore’s R.C. Church and had a big wedding reception at Polish Hall.
A devout Catholic, Renee loved helping at church, volunteering to clean the sanctuary and working in the food pantry. She sang in the choir and was a member of the Altar Rosary Society. She loved to say the Rosary, her husband said.
She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She enjoyed crocheting and taking care of her family.
In addition to her husband Mark, she is survived by her mother Georgianna Danowski of Riverhead, her sons Brian and Christopher, her brother Larry Danowski, of Riverhead, and her grandson Kaden.
The family will receive visitors at McLaughlin Heppner Funeral Home in Riverhead on Monday, April 25, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Tuesday, April 26 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Isidore Church in Riverhad. Interment will follow at St. Isidore Cemetery.
