By Jennifer La Lima
On Saturday morning, March 11, Schoenfeld, 62, was critically injured when she was hit by a car while jogging across North Linden Street at Bethpage Parkway in Massapequa. With her husband, Irving, and daughters Susan and Sage at her bedside, Schoenfeld died at 12:02 p.m. at Nassau University Medical Center. The cause was major head trauma. Sage and Susan held firmly to their mother's hands.
The driver, Michael Radulich, 85, of Massapequa, was not charged in the incident.
Schoenfeld often ran with friends, but went alone that morning in the interest of covering two extra miles. She was training to run the Long Island Half Marathon, a 13-mile race that will be held on May 7. Thus far, more than 100 people have signed up to run in her honor.
"It was really incredible to see how many lives my mother touched," said Sage, reflecting on the outpouring of support that people have offered her family. Above all else, Sage and Susan spoke of how close their parents were. The Schoenfelds, married 43 years, met at a dance when Dale was a teenager. The pair would joke that for the other one, it was love at first sight.
"My parents had a very deep connection, a very loving relationship," Sage said. "The two of them would do anything for each other."
Together, Dale and her husband set an example of devotion to family for their daughters. Dale stood by Irving through his long battle with cancer. It was a familiar fight for her, as she had lost her sister, Alice Grun, to melanoma in 1996. Schoenfeld cared for Grun's children as though they were her own.
Raising money for cancer research became a cause close to Schoenfeld's heart. In her honor, the family hopes to raise money for the cause by running the half marathon and making donations in her name.
Sage and Susan have long considered their relationship with each other, and with their mother, to be a spiritual one. "My mother was the most amazing woman and mother in this world," Sage said. "She was so much more than a mother; she was our best friend."
Dale and Irving would travel to support Susan, a triathlete, in her various competitions. The support Susan received throughout her life from her parents has been a major factor in her training and perseverance. To date she has competed in five Ironman competitions and numerous other events. "My mother was inspiring," Susan said. "She was always so proud of me, but I was always so proud of her as well. She filled a void for me. My mother was always youthful; she never aged."
Susan's fondest memory of time spent with her mother was a hiking expedition in the Italian Alps. "It was the best 10 days of our lives," she recalled. "I remember looking at what was around us and thinking how lucky we were to share such amazing scenery together.
³My mother was the kind of person who was always caring for us and thinking of us. She ended all of our conversations with, 'I love you.' She was always smiling. She really celebrated life."
Comments about this story? JLaLima@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
