By Mike Schnitzel
Though her community work was wide-ranging, Zawislak was best known for her involvement with the local PTA. It began when her children entered Robert W. Carbonaro School and ended when she lost a two-year battle with breast cancer on Aug. 27, while she was still South High School PTA co-president, with Joanne Crisci.
"She was very dedicated to the children," said Crisci, who knew Zawislak for the past 13 years, since they were both PTA members at Carbonaro. "Her face was always familiar around school, because when there was no one else around, she made sure she was always there to help."
District 24 Superintendent Dr. Edward Fale was new to the district when he met Zawislak. Having come from the Longwood School District in Suffolk County in 1998, Fale worked closely with Zawislak at Carbonaro, where she was PTA president from 1995 to 1998. "She was part of the team who interviewed me when I first became superintendent, and I worked very closely with her during my first year here," Fale said. "As PTA president she gave generously of her time to the district, and she always had a smile on her face."
In 1994, Zawislak was awarded a PTA lifetime membership for her outstanding service to the school district, according to Martha Carney, the Central High School District¹s public information officer.
In addition to devoting her time and energy to the school district, Zawislak helped out in other areas of the community. A longtime parishioner at Holy Name of Mary Roman Catholic Church on East Jamaica Avenue, she put her skill with a needle and thread to use to help the church choir out of a bind. "The choir put a notice in the Sunday bulletin that they needed someone to help redo the stoles on their choir robes," her husband recalled. "Within two weeks she had made the stoles for the entire choir."
Zawislak's sewing skills proved invaluable on another occasion, when South High School got new band uniforms. Unfortunately, they were all the same size and needed to be altered in time for marching band festivities in which South was taking part at Hofstra University. Working her magic, Zawislak saved the day for her daughter Kimberly and her bandmates, completing alterations in time for the event.
According to her oldest son, Richard, family always came first for Zawislak. "She was very modest and did her work," Richard said. "And she did it because she loved it." He said that the biggest joy of the last eight months of her life was her grandson Christopher.
Zawislak was born on Oct. 3, 1953, in Whitestone, Queens. She attended high school at St. Andrew's Academy, a private school in Whitestone. She graduated from the Laboratory Institute of Fashion Merchandising in Manhattan, and her first job was as an assistant buyer for the department store Lord & Taylor. She married Robert Zawislak in 1975, and they had four children, Christine, Richard, Stephen and Kimberly.
It was only in the last few months of her life that Zawislak's trademark energy began to wane, and people began to notice that she was ill. "Though she was sick for two years, she got around quite well," Robert said. "Many people didn't know she was sick until she took a turn for the worse in June." At that point, doctors discovered that cancer had spread to her lungs, liver and brain.
Zawislak's wake was held on Aug. 29 and 30 at Lieber Funeral Home on Central Avenue. Her funeral took place Aug. 31 at Holy Name of Mary Church, and burial followed at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.
In addition to her husband, children and grandson, Zawislak is survived by a brother, James Roberto, of Florida.
"She was a really giving person," Crisci said. "It would make her happy when she saw children succeed. She watched a lot of children grow up from grade school to middle school to high school."
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516)569-4000 ext. 265.
