By Mike Schnitzel
³What happened to them?² asked Milena Kantor, a neighbor of the Costleighs who was still shocked by the incident. ³I just can¹t believe that they¹re gone.²
Frank Rizzo, president of the Barclay Town House board, where the Costleighs lived for the past 10 years, said there were no better neighbors to have. Whether someone in the complex needed help moving furniture or an event required setting up, Rizzo said, the Costleighs were always there for their neighbors. Richard had just accepted the vice presidency of the complex board after the previous vice president moved to Florida.
³They were real team players in the community,² said Rizzo. ³They were very interested and cooperative when it came to upkeep of the complex.²
Rizzo said that Richard was very organized and analytical, and he always helped out with projects at the complex. Dorothy was an excellent cook and a frequent volunteer, helping to organize the Barclay Town House annual summer picnic, said Kantor. ³You would never meet a nicer, more generous, open couple of people in your life,² Kantor said. ³They don¹t make people like these anymore.²
Richard Costleigh Jr., 35, of Seattle, said that as far as parents go, you couldn¹t find a more supportive and caring duo. My father was always a great source of advice,² said Richard Jr. ³He was nicknamed ŒBoy Wonder¹ when he worked at Con Edison because he could always fix any bug in the system. Here was a guy who didn¹t go to college, but he was so good with those things that they would go to him first.²
Costleigh called his mother a real people person who was very caring. ³She was very much interested in other people,² he said. ³She would talk to complete strangers in the supermarket.²
The Costleighs met at the Cresthaven Country Club in Queens, settling in North Wantagh after their marriage. They had two children, Lisa Saunders, 38, and Richard Jr., who both now live in Seattle.
Dorothy, who was 62, was born Dorothy Freni in Queens. She worked as an administrative assistant at Nassau University Medical Center for 16 years, spending five years in the public affairs office.
Richard, 64, lived in the South Bronx for eight years, eventually moving to Queens. He served in the Army from 1960 to 1962, where he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, which was nicknamed the ³Big Red One.² During his time with the 1st Infantry, he served at the Panama Canal.
³Dad was a little wild back in his Army days,² said Richard Jr. ³I think that¹s when he got all that out of his system. He was just a loving, caring person.²
After his stint in the Army, Richard went to work for Con Edison as a meter reader, working his way up to systems manager with the company. Later, at Grumman Data Systems, he became an assistant director. After returning to Con Edison, he retired in 1999.
At around 7 p.m. on June 6, Joseph Lucas, 18, of Malverne, was driving his 1995 Pontiac Grand Am eastbound on Hempstead Turnpike when he attempted to make a left turn onto Pacific Avenue and collided with a westbound 2001 Ford pickup truck driven by Joseph Errico, 34, of Franklin Square, according to detectives.
The impact sent the truck onto the sidewalk where the Costleighs were walking, and they were struck and pinned under it, police said. Richard was taken to Mercy Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:23 p.m. Dorothy was taken to Winthrop University Medical Center, where she died the next morning.
The front passenger in the Pontiac Grand Am, 17-year-old Danielle Montefusco, was transported to Winthrop University Hospital, where she was treated for a possible ankle fracture. Lucas was brought to Mercy Medical Center and treated for neck pain.
The Highway Patrol Bureau responded to the scene and performed brake and safety checks on both vehicles involved in the accident. No summonses were issued, and
no charges have been filed.
Visitation was held last Saturday and Sunday at the Moore Funeral Home in Valley Stream. A funeral Mass was held at St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church in Franklin Square on Monday.
In addition to their children, the Costleighs are survived by a 2-year-old granddaughter, Mia. Dorothy is survived by her mother, Mary Freni, of Franklin Square, and two sisters, Joan Thompson of Franklin Square and Loretta Anastasio of New Jersey. Richard is survived by a brother, Donald, of Massapequa, and a sister, Kathryn Smith, of Bayside.
³We¹re going to miss them like crazy,² said Rizzo. ³It was a pleasure to be around them.²
³They lived together, they loved together, and they died together,² said Kantor. ³They were still very much in love.²
Brian Zanzonico contributed to this story.
Comments about it? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
