Mar 20, 2008
Mother of three
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Donna Seedorf, active volunteer who touched countless lives, dies
How do you honor a woman who touched the lives of thousands of people of all ages during her lifetime of service? Monday night, more than 1,700 people came out to pay homage to Donna Seedorf at the first day of her wake. Ms. Seedorf died unexpectedly on Thursday, March 13, at the age of 50, because of complications from routine surgery at Northern Westchester Hospital. The wake continued on Tuesday and a Mass of Resurrection was held at St. Mary’s of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church in Katonah on Wednesday. Interment is at South Salem Cemetery.
“Donna’s was a lifetime of small gestures. Everyone she touched in the Lewisboro community and the school community — you saw last night” at the first day of her wake, said her husband, Lewisboro Town Justice Marc Seedorf. “She was my best friend and my wife of 25 years. We have a legacy of three wonderful, beautiful children.”
Ms. Seedorf grew up in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, attending Cardinal Spellman High School, where she met the man who would be her husband. When he was a freshman in college, they began dating.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Seedorf purchased his parents’ house in the Bronx, where they began raising their three children. Mr. Seedorf graduated from Brooklyn Law School and went to work for the Bronx district attorney, while Ms. Seedorf became an executive assistant at Citibank. While living in the Bronx, Ms. Seedorf began volunteering at her children’s pre-school, beginning her long record of community service.
In 1989, the Seedorfs moved to Lewisboro. As her children reached school age, Ms. Seedorf joined the staff of the South Salem Nursery School, and ran the child care program for teachers at St. Mary’s Church’s Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD).
“Lewisboro has lost one of its most selfless residents, and my wife, Kim, and I have lost a dear friend,” said Town Board member Peter DeLucia. “When I first ran for office, our twins were toddlers and things were hectic. Donna took us under her wing. Just seeing Donna made even the most mundane civic functions fun to be at.”
Always active in the community, Ms. Seedorf was a member of the Lewisboro Volunteer Ambulance Corps (LVAC), co-chairing its biggest fund-raiser, the LVAC annual auction, for many years.
“Donna was one of those rare individuals who touched so many and will never be replaced or forgotten,” said LVAC officer Sue Lineen. “The loss to this organization and the Lewisboro community will be felt for some time to come.”
“She was a loved and vital part of every group that was fortunate to have her as a member,” said LVAC President Kathy Peterson. “It was an honor to have had the opportunity to work side by side with Donna, and my life has been forever blessed with the memories of our friendship.”
LVAC Capt. Karen Barber told The Ledger that the corps’ new addition to its headquarters in Cross River would be dedicated to Ms. Seedorf.
“Donna was a gift to all who knew and loved her, and will be missed and remembered in our hearts forever,” Ms. Barber said.
“Donna was one of the finest people I’ve ever known,” said Pat Normandeau, who co-chaired the LVAC auction with Ms. Seedorf and worked with her on the annual library fair. “In the hours we spent together during the fund-raising season, Donna always talked about her family with such love and pride — she clearly felt blessed. I know how lucky I was to work with Donna; I loved working with her. Everyone did.”
“Each year as auction time approached, all of our members looked forward to seeing Donna on a regular basis,” said LVAC member Lynda Crowley. “Even during crunch time, right before the event, she remained calm and focused, and never lost her sense of humor.”
“We will all miss her positive and cheerful disposition, and generous and loving spirit,” said LVAC member Annie Petronis. “All of us at LVAC considered Donna to be a special friend.”
Ms. Seedorf did not confine her contributions to the town to the ambulance corps, but also found time to volunteer for the annual South Salem Library Fair, co-chairing the celebration in 2001, and to serve as a member of the Lewisboro Republican Town Committee (RTC), including as its former secretary.
“She was an outstanding individual,” said Planning Board and committee member Richard Ellrodt. “I never ran into anybody that had a bad word for her. She was well liked by everybody, and very involved in the community.”
“She was just a wonderful member of our community,” said library Director Cindy Rubino. “She was so friendly, and we appreciated everything that she did for the library.”
Ms. Seedorf had worked at Lewisboro Elementary School as a teaching assistant since 1997. In 2000, she transitioned from working with individual students to working in the kindergarten classroom. She had also been taking classes at Mercy College to get a degree to further her education.
In addition to her husband, Ms. Seedorf is survived by her children, Lauren, Marc and Alison; her parents, Joseph and Barbara Bernardi; sisters Denise Healy and her husband, Brendan, and Diane Belkevich and her husband, Joseph; brother Joseph Bernardi and his wife, Lorraine; her mother-in-law, Eileen; brothers-in-law Paul Seedorf and Matthew Seedorf and his wife, Felicia; sisters-in-law Anne McGuinness and her husband, Steven, and Susan Kappes and her husband, Richard; and nieces and nephews Christopher, Kerri, Jessica, Stephen, Anthony, Gregory, Lysette, Ryan, Alec, Victoria, Danielle, Joseph, Amanda, Matthew, Andrea, Ashlee, and Alana. She was predeceased by her father-in-law, William Seedorf.
Memorial donations may be made to the Lewisboro Volunteer Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 41, South Salem, NY 10590.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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