Obituary

Daisy Denenberg, psychologist and legislator’s mother, mourned

Posted

Daisy Denenberg, mother of Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg and two other children, who later in life started a career as a psychologist, earning her doctorate at 51 and working in local schools and then her own practice, died on Nov. 15 after a short battle with cancer. She was 77.

Denenberg was a doer: a perpetual learner who earned four college degrees, one in each decade from her 20’s to 50’s; a businesswoman who first opened her own office in her 60’s; a hardworking homemaker; a lover of social outings, travel and friends’ company; an avid tennis player; and an enemy of sitting around.

“She hated people watching TV,” David said. “She thought you should be out playing.”

Claudia Borecky, a former chief of staff to the legislator, described Daisy as a “very youthful person.”

“She was full of energy and fire, but elegant too,” Borecky said. “She was a wonderful person. It’s very sad.”

Born Daisy Lerea on May 27, 1937, in East New York, Brooklyn, she was the youngest of four children of Jewish immigrants from Italy and Greece. While a student at Brooklyn College in her late teens, she met her future husband, Julian Denenberg, through a friend who was Julian’s sister. Julian, an Army corporal stationed at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, was charmed by her gregarious nature.

The couple married in December 1956. Daisy finished her bachelor’s degree, and Julian went to law school on the G.I. Bill. In 1960, they bought a house in East Meadow, where they raised three children: Seth, David and Deborah.

Neighborhood children flocked to the house, David recalled. “Particularly in summers for dinner, we always had friends eating over,” he said, noting that his mother “would make meatballs and spaghetti with the sauce from scratch.”

“My parents, in many ways, were a perfect marriage,” David continued. “My mom was always into socializing and loved being surrounded by people. My dad liked to relax with friends and watch football. They both played tennis together.”

Page 1 / 2