From the Spring 2009 Edition of Clippings Magazine

by Bill Lawrence

Meet the five ladies who are the “nuts and bolts” of the OLQM rectory. Although not highly visible to the parish, their individual talents are what keep the wheels turning smoothly.

Joanne Pontani

Joanne Pontani has been with us for 3 years as a receptionist. She lived here with her family as summer residents in a rented bungalow, then later built, before there was a church, from 1949 to 1972. Her father visited here as early as 1914. She and her husband Ron are the parents of Christopher and Sean, and grandparents of Kristen and Sara. Her multiple duties include overseeing weekly collections, scheduling dates for baptisms, weddings, and funerals, providing Mass information, keeping track of the parish census, overseeing the parish registers, manning the computer to prepare spiritual reports, providing Mass cards and verification of membership in the congregation, organizing church schedules, plus a dozen more not specified. And then there are the phone calls and walk-ins, as many as 20 a day. How many? "I never stop to count", she says quietly. How do you handle all that? "I prioritize what’s important", she says with confidence. "Whatever puts out the fire". A competent and talented lady.

She attended Holy Cross Academy in Manhattan, earned a BS degree in Retail and Merchandising from Seton Hill College in Greensburg, PA as well as a master’s degree from Purdue, majoring in textiles and clothing. Before coming here she worked in retail and marketing. For over 30 years she taught adult education classes in cooking and needlepoint in Huntington. She and Ron both enjoy cooking and she is an accomplished baker. "Anything with chocolate", she smiles. She’s also knowledgeable about jewelry and has used the internet to gather ideas on the subject. "I really like the parishioners I meet. This is a warm parish." On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays her smiling face will be the one greeting you at the rectory door.

Diane French

Diane French is the Stewardship Coordinator and, although a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi in Greenlawn, she has been here at her post at OLQM for the past four years. A lovely lady with flowing blond hair, she presents the picture of a competent professional. It’s a surprise to learn she has fourteen nieces and nephews, ten grand nieces and nephews and five godchildren. She edits and publishes the weekly parish bulletin through Bulletin Press, the same company that prints this magazine.

Her background is impressive: 25 years as secretary with Pan American World Airways, Inc. (When Juan Trippe was still at the helm, Charles Lindbergh was serving on the Board of Directors and both were gracing the halls of the Pan Am Building in Manhattan) during which tenure she was involved with accounting, marketing, sales and advertising. She managed the memberships of the Clipper Club, the private airport lounges provided by the airline to their exclusive traveling dignitaries, socialites and world leaders. On one of her Pan Am flights to San Francisco, she was a fellow passenger with Mother Theresa. Mother Theresa signed Diane’s Bible. "An unforgettable and blessed experience."

Diane and her husband Rogers love family, travel and golfing. Some of their most memorable experiences have been riding camels in Morocco, getting within 10 feet of a pride of lions on the Serengeti in Africa and snapping a treasured picture which hangs proudly on a wall in their home, walking on the glaciers in Alaska, and attending a private Mass in the Sistine Chapel with Pope Paul VI presiding. While not working, attending endless family functions or volunteering her time as a Eucharistic Minister and member of the RCIA Team at St. Francis, she is conquering the many famous golf courses of the world, which included a hole-in-one!

She graduated from Our Lady of Victory elementary school in Floral Park, and Floral Park Memorial High School. Among her many responsibilities as Stewardship Coordinator, she enjoys putting together the parish bulletin, a continuing job where you have to keep things on time. As she says, "You have to be organized." She has been a long-time coordinator of the Annual Golf and Tennis Outing, working side-by-side with the many committee members. She manages all the payments to the Parish Capital Fund, which raised over a million and a half dollars for the church restorations. She also teaches RCIA/RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and Children) at St. Francis. The RCIA is open to persons of all faiths and ages, those who are unbaptized and those who desire to come into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist). She is very active in the Catholic Ministries Appeal and maintains records of all incoming payments and donations to the Church. Her mantra is made clear when she says, "God is in charge of my day."

Kathy Palmieri

Kathy Palmieri, our full-time housekeeper, has been longer at OLQM than anyone else. For 24 years she has taken care of the home for Father (later Monsignor) Colligan, Monsignor Ryan, and dozens of visiting priests. Since 1985 she has dusted, vacuumed, polished, washed clothes and linens, cleaned, and sewn on buttons, taking care of the rectory’s domestic requirements with loving care. Kathy graduated from Huntington High School in 1964, and went to work as a clerk at Lafayette Electronics, a mail order house. She worked as full-time housekeeper for the owner of an art gallery in Lloyd Harbor, hired nurses for the ill owner when necessary. She and her husband Gerard, have one son, Brian, 34. She most likes the "religious environment" of the rectory, of which she has many memories. "Father Colligan was a dear man – he was always losing his wallet or his keys." She enjoyed the companionship of Simba, the rectory dog, when he was alive, and now enjoys Nala, who "gives the place a feeling of home."

Kathy likes going to the movies and bowling, a sport in which she has won a few trophies. She loves reading, and is a regular volunteer at Huntington Hospital. Kathy is a prime example of the dedicated women who maintain the headquarters of our parish and help us operate as well as we do.