Remembering co-founder of history society
Patricia Sympson was instrumental in establishing the Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook. Her impact on the community was memorialized last month when she died at 87.
Sympson, born Nov. 29, 1936 to Ann Colway and George Colway, moved together to Lynbrook in 1941. However, their time there was short-lived after her dad enlisted in the army following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Sympson was sent to boarding school in upstate New York, while her mom moved back to Albany to work.
After the war, the family reunited and moved back to their home in Lynbrook. Sympson attended St. Raymond’s Grammar School, St. Agnes High School, and Albany State Teacher’s College, which is now known as SUNY Albany.
After graduating college in only three years, she realized her lifetime dream of becoming a teacher of English and Social Studies at Island Trees Memorial Junior High School. She became chairperson of the Social Studies Department and then assistant principal of the junior high school. She then earned her master’s degree and PHD in Political Science at St. John’s University.
During her time as a teacher, Sympson married her beloved husband Robert and moved to their house on Marion Street in East Rockaway in 1965. Shortly after moving in, she welcomed their daughter Veronica Sympson Krendel.
“We were so close,” Veronica said of her mother. “She was an educator and that really informed kind of everything she did. She was very plain spoken, and she wasn’t the kind of mother that lied to you. If she thought there was something you needed to know or that she needed to say, she would say it. So, our relationship was always very open.”
Veronica explained that her mom was a “hands on” parent without being “overbearing.” She allowed Veronica to follow her own path and encouraged her interests in drama and speech and debate in high school. Veronica said that she gained her love of reading from her mother.
“We had a lot of fun together,” Veronica said. “She wanted to show me all the things in the world that were possible for me, especially as another woman. She never wanted me to be limited by other people’s expectations.”
When Veronica was a sophomore at Lynbrook High School, Patricia invited a student from Peru to live with them and enroll in Lynbrook Public Schools. Over the years since then, even after Veronica graduated college, when exchange students’ home placements end up not working out and they would have to be sent home, Patricia would take them in.
“I think that really speaks to her being an inclusive person with a very large worldview,” Veronica said.
Upon her retirement, Patricia became active in local government, successfully running for trustee on the East Rockaway Village Board. While her time there was limited, Patricia fought for what she believed to be in the best interests of the village. Her legacy is the planting of many rose bushes known as Mr. Lincoln Roses.
After leaving office, Patricia, her husband, and their friends formed the Friends of the East Rockaway Gristmill, which later morphed into the Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook, HSERL. She was a stalwart worker for HSERL, at the forefront of its annual Retrospective, chair and co-chair of its annual Tea Party, and the organization’s immediate past president.
“My parents were both interested in history and my mom was a social studies teacher so this was always fascinating to her,” Veronica said.
Being that Veronica went through the Lynbrook School District and she also lived in East Rockaway with her parents, Patricia had an interest in both villages. Patricia figured the best way to support both communities and their rich history was to create a nonprofit historical organization.
Veronica noted that through the historical society, Patricia helped raise money for local organizations, was able to get several East Rockaway properties listed on the National Historical Register and hosted an annual presentation at the library and presented local history of the villages. She also authored the book East Rockaway Images of America, which provides a historical overview of the village.
“I don’t believe that the historical society would have happened if it had not been for their (Patricia and Robert) combined efforts and leaps over the years,” Veronica said.
Veronica explained that Patricia and Robert took this historical society seriously, as they connected with historical experts on a local, statewide, and national level to guide them. She said they researched a lot to make sure that the organization can last for years, which proved to be effective, as the society is now over two decades old.
To sum up Patricia in a few words, Veronica said that she was intelligent, inclusive, and a staunch friend. Veronica said that Patricia was always interested in people, hearing their stories and their history.
Patricia is survived by her husband Robert Sympson, her daughter Veronica Sympson Krendel, her son-in-law Robert Krendel, her granddaughters, Caroline Patricia Krendel and Georgia Rose Krendel, her grandson John Ronan Krendel, and her sister Mary Colway Beck.
