An instrumental woman in Lynbrook passes

After more than 50 years of serving the Lynbrook community, Carol Burak died on Aug. 4 at 81. Between her decades serving as a member and eventual president of the Chamber of Commerce, a minister for Our Lady of Peace, a religious education teacher, a cofounder of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and much more, Burak left Lynbrook even better than she found it.

“She gave everything to others,” said Melissa Burak, Carol’s daughter and former superintendent of the Lynbrook school district for 30 years. “She was strong in faith, she was strong in sense of community, she offered to help people whenever they needed help.”

Burak moved from Manhattan to Lynbrook more than 50 years ago, and dedicated her time, energy and talents to the community ever since. She was a minister at Our Lady of Peace for over 25 years where she founded the thrift shop, which provides low-cost clothing to those in need; ran the “Meal in a Minute” program, which serves homemade meals to parishioners who need food support; coordinated and edited the church’s magazine “Voice of Peace”; and was a religious education teacher for 25 years.

Burak was a member of the Chamber of Commerce for 24 years and had been its secretary before being nominated and elected president in 2017. She also coordinated the New Residents Night for individuals and families who recently moved to the neighborhood. On top of that, she was a member of the Friends of the Library and a cofounder of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in Lynbrook.

“She did so much for the community,” Melissa said. “It’s something that was important to her.”

Her work with the chamber, Our Lady of Peace and beyond earned her the Caring for Others Award in 2010 from the Woodmen of the World’s Family Lodge 476, and the Woman of the Year award in 2011 from her fellow chambermates in the Chamber of Commerce.

Polly Talbott, the current president of the chamber, first met Burak in 1999. Talbott said that Burak was constantly going above and beyond for the organization — running errands, taking care of writeups and communications, and doing whatever she could do for the organization. Burak helped Talbott and Burak became close friends in recent years.

Talbott said that anyone who met Burak would notice “her kindness and her willingness to help, her sincerity, her honesty.”

“She cared about everybody,” Talbott said. “Lynbrook is a great place. This was her home. She loves the village, she loves everyone. And it showed in her everyday life.”

Perhaps not every resident of Lynbrook personally knew Carol or her decades of behind-the-scenes service on the chamber or in Our Lady of Peace, but every resident’s life has been touched in some way by Carol’s advocacy and dedication to the community.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Our Lady of Peace social ministry.