Linda Santangelo, 'warm and caring,' died on April 3

Linda Santangelo’s favorite part of East Meadow Board of Education meetings was when students stood at the podium, dressed well beyond their years, and presented their classwork to the community. As Board secretary, Santangelo watched on with deep joy and an ear-to-ear grin as the children nervously yet excitedly addressed the large audiences about their recent projects.

“She always felt it was so wonderful for the children to get up there to present,” said her colleague, Joan Franciotti. “She was so supportive of them.”

Her beaming smile was noticeably absent during the most recent Board of Education meeting, on April 30, when district officials requested a moment of silence for Santangelo, who died on April 3. She was 65.

In addition to her unremitting kindness and generosity, Santangelo was known by her friends and colleagues for her professionalism, selflessness and her deep devotion to her family, especially her two granddaughters. “She had pictures of them all around her desk,” said Franciotti, who as district clerk, worked with Santangelo for the last five years. “Her granddaughters were just the light of her life.”

One of Santangelo’s most recognizable features, Franciotti said, “Is she had a very, very infectious and wonderful laugh. If I came in the morning, and I was talking to her, or heard her talking to her granddaughters on the phone, her laugh was just the happiest thing you’d ever want to hear. And it made you laugh too.”

Santangelo had worked in the East Meadow School District for nine years. She also served as the secretary to Superintendent Louis DeAngelo. “She was an exceptional woman. Kind, caring, and really was a friend as well as a secretary,” said DeAngelo. “She was a selfless person, she was professional in all matters and extremely warm and caring. I miss her terribly.”

Santangelo was born on July 17, 1949, in Brooklyn. She most recently lived in Levittown. Her funeral mass was on April 7 at St. Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church in Levittown. She was interred at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.