Local residents remember community activist fondly

Marie Giambalvo, who passed away in February at the age of 96, was a longtime member of the Elmont East End Civic Association and other local groups, and lived on Clement Avenue in Elmont for most of her life.

“She always loved Elmont, and being involved in the civic club. She was a great lady,” said Dorothy Werner, an East End Civic Association member and friend of Giambalvo’s for several years. Werner said there wasn’t much Giambalvo cared about more than Elmont, where she moved after she married in the 1940s, and raised two children, Rosemary and Peter.

Giambalvo was the daughter of Italian immigrants, who were both factory workers, and she grew up in Brooklyn. Her parents owned a bungalow in Elmont for several years, and when Giambalvo married, helped her turn it into a home — where Giambalvo and her husband lived for nearly 70 years. Giambalvo worked for nearly 20 years as a legal secretary for Nassau County court judges, and her husband worked as an immigration attorney.

Rosemary Monteleone, Giambalvo’s daughter, said her mother was always a hard worker, remaining adamant about making positive changes in the Elmont community, after she retired at age 70. She served as the secretary of the Elmont East End Civic Association for several years, and was a member of the Order Sons of Italy, America Lodge 2245, and Franklin Square’s Senior Center.

“She loved Elmont, and she was very involved with all the goings on in the community. That was her personality,” Monteleone said. “She had quite a few friends in the community, and she was a wonderful mother — very bright, very active in the school.”

As a young girl, Giambalvo was very artistic, Monteleone said, and even began attending an art school, until she found a job as a stenographer. She loved attending the Senior Center in Franklin Square for arts and crafts, Monteleone added. “She was a loving and special woman who will be in our hearts forever,” she said.

Giambalvo is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Rosemary and Frank Monteleone; her son and daughter-in-law, Peter and Flavia Giambalvo; and three grandchildren: Andrew, an attorney in Mineola; Gracie, who works at Winthrop University Hospital; and Marie, who works as a photo editor for the New York Post.