PERSON 2 0 11
OF THE YEAR Oceanside/Island Park
HERALD
December 29, 2011 - January 4, 2012
$1.00
YEAR IN REVIEW
Christina Daly/Herald
At the end of August, Tropical Storm Irene slammed into Long Island. Although areas upstate were hit harder, streets in Oceanside and Island Park flooded and caused extensive damage. Page 16
Courtesy Deborah Smith
Oceanside High School student Blake Smith made headlines by advancing to the finals in the Siemens Competition. His project was one of 12 chosen nationwide from thousands of entries. Page 19
o n a i r t a Joe S
under the pen name J.S. Russo. And that book became much more. “In Sickness and In Health” was a chronicle of Satriano’s life with Susan and her 13-year battle with cancer. In 2006, about six months after she died, Joe decided to honor his wife’s memory by creating the Susan Satriano Memorial Scholarship Foundation. That year, using the money he received from his wife’s life insurance policy, he gave $8,000 in scholarships to four graduating Oceanside High School seniors. “I had the money,” Satriano said, “and I didn’t want to sit on it, so I gave it out.” There were three requirements for the scholarship: The student had to be a senior, headed to college, and he or she had to have a parent who was fighting or had died from cancer. When the book was published, Satriano decided to give 100 percent of its proceeds to the foundation, and it has grown by leaps and bounds ever since. Since 2006 Satriano has awarded $130,000 in scholarships to 130 students — $85,000 of that this spring alone, thanks to book sales and a fundraiser he held at Oceanside High School. “This foundation is phenomenal,” said Jamee Schleifer, a lifelong friend of Satriano’s. The two grew up together in Brooklyn. “I didn’t do the research, but I don’t think there’s any cancer foundation like his that focuses on the children of the cancer victims,” she said. “And in this day and age, with money issues, scholarships are a big deal.” Schleifer was so taken with the idea of the foundation that both she and her husband, Michael, are members of its board of directors. She sits in on Satriano’s interviews with all of the scholarship recipients, and Michael handles the foundation’s accounting. The scholarship is different from many others in that there is no academic requirement. Grades are not important. Children whose parents suffer from cancer often have to do things around the house that their parents used to do — care for a younger sibling, cook, clean and more, Satriano explained. This, along with the emotional stress of having a sick parent, can take a toll on their grades, which is why academic standing is not a consideration. In fact, every student who applies for a scholarship — and meets its sobering criteria — has received one. “He calls [the kids] the ‘silent sufferers,’” said Karen Bonnet, a friend of Susan’s who became friends with Joe after he and Susan married. Bonnet also works with the foundation, handling the marketing for the fundraisers Satriano organizes. “People tend to think of the adults first — the people going through the cancer and their spouse. And the kids kind of get lost in the
Honoring his wife’s memory by helping kids on Long Island — and beyond
By ALEX COSTELLO
J
acostello@liherald.com
oe Satriano’s life changed forever when his wife of 29 years, Susan, died of breast cancer in October 2005. Satriano, 59, an Oceanside resident, had retired four years early from Roslyn High School, where he taught math for 25 years, in order to care for his wife. “After Mom had died, it was a very tough year,” said Matt Satriano, 28, the oldest of their two sons.
“I think since my dad had been the caregiver for such a long time and he hadn’t been working, that was basically everything that had been going on in his life.” In the months after his wife’s death, Satriano started to write in journals given to him by friends. Those journals became a book, “In Sickness and In Health: A Memoir of Love,” which Satriano published
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