By:Angela Marshall
Washing windows is not high on Dorothy Zaiser's list of favorite activities. It's probably not even in the top 50. But when the custodian of St. Mark's United Methodist Church had a stroke, she knew that someone had to pitch in and get the job done. So a few weeks ago, the 83-year-old spent her Saturday scrubbing windows at the church, making sure they would shine for services the next day.
It wasn't the first time Zaiser found herself with a spray bottle in one hand and a sponge in the other. And it's not likely to be the last.
She may call herself a "little, old retired lady," but others see her as something more. "She's a woman for all seasons," said Roger D. Johns, St. Mark's minister.
To Johns, Zaiser is one of those special congregants who go above and beyond the call of duty to aid others. "Her genius is helping people," he said, recounting many tales of Zaiser's good deeds.
Just a day or two before last year's national election, one of the church's members suffered a heart attack and was upset that he wouldn't be able to vote. It was after the deadline to apply for absentee ballots, but Zaiser knew there had to be another way. She went before a state judge and finally, after a day of trips between Mineola and the hospital, the man had his ballot.
Each week Zaiser delivers food, takes friends to the doctor and much more.
Born on a farm on Powell Avenue, Zaiser said she learned to help others by example. "We've always been a family of giving to the community," she said.
Her father James Patten was the village clerk and her mother Ella was often volunteering, Zaiser recalled.
But for Zaiser, who retired as a secretary at South Side High School in 1984, it is also a way to stay active. "I'm not ready to stay home and knit, and I'm not ready to stay home and clean, darn it," she said.
For 30 years, she was a housewife who dedicated her life to keeping a "comfortable home" for her husband, the late William Zaiser, and their three boys. During those years, she joined the PTA and became president of the Rockville Centre Council of PTA's. Eventually, she ran for the school board and was elected in 1966, serving as secretary, vice president and president over the years.
Zaiser's husband developed myatonic dystrophy, a form of multiple sclerosis, in 1958 and with the help of his wife battled the disease for 25 years. To pay the bills, Zaiser returned to work as the head of the personnel office for A. Holly Patterson, a nursing home. When William became sicker, she took a position closer to home at the high school as the secretary to the principal.
Working and taking care of William, even with the help of a nurse, left little time for sleep. She sometimes had as little as two hours a night. But Zaiser doesn't complain about those times. She speaks matter-of-factly as though it is just a part of life.
William died in 1983 and Zaiser retired the next year, but she has never lessened her dedication to the school district.
She organized the first high school centennial celebration on Long Island, which attracted approximately 1,700 alumni to the weekend of activities. She went on to help create the South Side Alumni Association.
Zaiser continues to speak to elementary school classes about the history of Rockville Centre schools and the village. And she also conducts tours of the district for new teachers.
"She's amazing," said Eleanor Condenzio, school district registrar. Condenzio said Zaiser adapts to any situation and embraces change.
For her efforts, Zaiser has been honored numerous times. But getting a chance to make a difference in the life of a neighbor is often reward enough for her. "I like to feel needed," she said.
