By JOSEPH KELLARD
Colquhoun (pronounced Calhoun) taught courses for the Oceanside Schools Adult Education Department for 31 years, and she operated a tailoring business out of her Chester Street home. Through these jobs, Colquhoun gained such a reputation as an expert seamstress that schools throughout her native Oceanside ‹ and the Metropolitan Opera ‹ sought her services.
Principal Florence A. Smith of School 2 asked Colquhoun to head a committee to make capes for the marching band to wear in parades in the early 1970s. Schools 4 and 5 later called on her to do similar work. Then, after Colquhoun retired in 1977 from teaching adults everything from using electric sewing machines to hemming pants, the Met somehow learned about her excellent work and ³literally begged her² to redo and alter women¹s costumes for an opera, said Jean Martin, Colquhoun¹s daughter.
³At first she was a little reluctant to take the job, but it paid excellent money, so she did it,² Martin said. ³ŠShe met Luciano Pavarotti and also walked out onto the stage with the performers.²
Born and raised in Oceanside as Sarah Stead, Colquhoun taught herself how to sew, knit and crochet at a young age. She initially made clothes for her four brothers and sisters. Colquhoun and her future husband, John, became sweethearts while attending Oceanside High School (then the former School 1 on Foxhurst Road) after they¹d met in the gym. ³[T]he two were both sport-minded and the common interest helped spawn the romance,² read an Oceanside Beacon article written about Colquhoun at her retirement. She played basketball and field hockey, helping both teams win championships in her senior year in 1935. (In 2003, Colquhoun attended the 100th anniversary ceremony for OHS as a special guest, then the oldest known graduate still living locally.)
The Colquhouns married at the First Presbyterian Church in Oceanside on Easter Sunday in 1940, and in the years that followed they had four children, Martin, of Michigan; John, of Ohio; Edward, of Maryland; and James, of Massapequa. The Colquhouns spent most of their lives working hard trying to make ends meet, Martin recalls. At her busiest, Colquhoun taught as many as six adult sewing courses a day, and John sometimes took on three jobs at once, working variously as a bank teller, owner of an insurance agency, and a regional director for Newsweek magazine.
The couple got deeply involved in the Oceanside Kiwanis Club. Colquhoun served as president of the Kiwanettes, the women¹s arm of the service organization, in 1970-71. She made dozens of Afghans and donated some to the Kiwanettes and the First Presbyterian to raffle off at fund-raisers. Colquhoun also volunteered for the Oceanside Girl Scouts and South Nassau Communities Hospital, and she gave blood regularly until 1982, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
³She was a very giving and kind person, and always willing to help people,² said fellow Kiwanette Edith DeBaun, a Woodmere native who befriended Colquhoun while competing against her in high school field hockey. ³And she was very sympathetic to a lot of causes.²
³She was always friendly and outgoing and always happy,² Martin said. ³And she had the patience of a saint. You would hardly ever see her get angry.²
Forever bursting with energy, Colquhoun found she couldn¹t sit still after she retired, so she took the night shift at Dunkin¹ Donuts in Oceanside. During her months working there, she became known as ³the Donut Lady.² Martin said her mother thought it was criminal when the shop threw out many unsold donuts. ³So she went all over town giving them away, to places like St. Anthony¹s, local nursing homes, senior centers and church groups,² Martin recalled.
Martin also remembers that her mother was very giving of her time. After her father taught her to drive, for example, she taught other women to get behind the wheel. ³I bet she taught about 50 or 60 women how to drive,² Martin said. ³She taught them and she never asked for money. She was always so giving of herself.²
A gathering was held for Colquhoun at Towers Funeral Home in Oceanside and a funeral at First Presbyterian. She was buried in Rockville Cemetery in Rockville Centre.
