Former Suffolk County Presiding Officer Maxine Postal dies at age 61

(01/02/04) HAUPPAUGE - Former Suffolk County Presiding Officer Maxine Postal, a Democrat, has passed away at the age of 61.

Postal was suffering from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal brain disorder in the family of mad cow disease that progresses even more rapidly than Alzheimer's or Huntington's disease.

The Suffolk Legislature voted on a new presiding officer and deputy officer Friday. Legislator Joseph Caracappa will take the post of presiding officer, and Legislator Angie Carpenter is the new Deputy Presiding Officer.

January 2, 2004, 4:49 PM EST

Maxine Postal, former presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, died last night, just one day after she resigned from the legislature after learning she had a rare and ultimately fatal disease. She was 61.

Postal died at a hospice in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Services will be held Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at I. J. Morris in Dix Hills.

"Maxine's entire career has been marked by her ability to overcome expectations," David Bishop, the legislature's Democratic minority leader, said. "She's a Jewish woman who won in a predominantly African-American district and was beloved by her constituents. She was a Democratic woman who thrived here in the legislature and was elected presiding officer of a body dominated by men and Republicans.

"She would most be proud of the legacy she left in her district, ironically in the area of health care. Maxine Postal leaves with us a healthier county and community. We are deeply saddened by this loss."

Despite her declining health, Postal ran for re-election last November for what would have been her eighth and final term because of term limits. Without a Republican opponent, she trounced a perennial candidate Louis Molinaro, a Conservative, winning 89 percent of the vote. Two days later, on Nov. 6, Postal sat in a wheelchair at what would turn out to be her last legislative meeting. At that time, she announced that she would not run for another term as presiding officer. Today, Joseph Caracappa (R-Selden) was voted her replacement.

My heart goes out to her friends and constituents. It's terrible to lose someone like her so young.

One of my friends had an aunt who died from C-J years ago in Canada. It's a terrible disease.

RIP, Maxine Postal.

Ms. Postal further defined the term, "grass-roots", working with the LI NAACP, NOW, American Jewish Congress, and so many, many more organizations. She cared about our drinking water and the price a woman would pay to have her suit dry-cleaned. 'Why should a woman pay more than a man to have her suit dry-cleaned' she would often say. Maxine was a CLASS ACT!

I will miss Maxine Postal very much and may she rest in peace.


For more on her life, her accomplishments and a bio go here.

UGRR