Elmont mourns loss of educator

Longtime Elmont educator Elsy Mecklembourg-Guibert — whose election to the Elmont School Board made her Nassau County’s first Haitian-American elected official — died on Oct. 3. She was 68 years old.

Mecklembourg-Guibert was diagnosed about a year and a half ago with a rare degenerative disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which kills one in a million people per year and for which there is no treatment or cure. After the onset of symptoms, the life expectancy is about a year, and she died about a year and four months after her diagnosis.

The longtime Elmont resident was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Nov. 7, 1953, and was an active member of the Elmont community. Mecklembourg-Guibert was one of three selected for a Grace LeGendre Foundation Fellowship and was an Elmont school board trustee from 2005 to 2008. She also founded her nonprofit organization, EMG Health Communications, in 1997.

Mecklembourg-Guibert had three boys: Youri Guibert, 39, Mao Guibert, 32, and Giscard Guibert, who died from a brain aneurysm in 1998 at the age of 17. Her late husband, Alfred Guibert, passed away in 2002 at the age of 49.

Mecklembourg-Guibert earned a bachelor’s degree in public health from Queens College in 1977and a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University in 1990. She completed her doctorate in education from Columbia University in 2018.

She worked as a professor of biological health for St. Francis College in Brooklyn up until her diagnosis. According to her family, she loved gardening, which was her passion. She would run political fundraisers at her home for local politicians, primarily Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages and Thomas Alfano.

“Dr. Elsy Mecklembourg-Guibert was a trailblazer who motivated so many people, including myself, to pursue public service and become advocates for our communities,” Solages said. “She inspired all of us by dedicating her life to helping others and by promoting health and cancer awareness through her non-profit, EMG Health Communications. She will be greatly missed, and I extend my condolences to her family and friends at this difficult time.”

Mecklembourg-Guibert loved to participate in different programs to help the community, especially helping those less fortunate to give them access to proper health care. Her EMG organization hosted several events per year, including one that centered on early prevention for breast cancer awareness month every October.

In March of every year, in honor of women’s history month, she would hold an event to honor different women, especially women living in Haiti and other parts of the world. She would single out those who had gone through cancer and helped create change in Haiti.

Mecklembourg-Guibert remained very involved in her home country as well as the Elmont community and was an active member of the Elmont library, where she held several community events.

In 1997 she launched the first video documentary on HIV/AIDS prevention, specifically for the Haitian-American population worldwide. The documentary, entitled “Mon Ami Ari” (My Friend Ari), sought to sensitize the community, especially young adults, to make informed decisions concerning their behavior to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

Throughout her life, Mecklembourg-Guibert collaborated with Aubrey Phillips, a well-known activist within the Elmont community. Phillips served with her on the Elmont school board.

“We traveled together concerning school board business, but the thing that stuck in my mind is she was the one that made me incredibly aware of breast cancer awareness,” Phillips said.

Mecklembourg-Guibert was honored as a recipient of the 2003 Gay Clark Stoddard Memorial Award, given to health-care professionals who have made outstanding contributions to breast health care in their community.

“We truly appreciated each other’s friendship and guidance, and mentorship without reciprocity,” Phillips said.

“One of Elsy’s greatest contributions to my life and hers is in Youri and Mao,” Phillips added. “Elsy and I would exchange the trials that our children simultaneously were putting us through. We both recognize the journey of being a parent and she was a fantastic parent.”

Mecklembourg-Guibert was honored by various organizations with awards but her biggest accomplishment was earning her doctorate.

“That was her proudest moment,” said her son, Youri. “She was a woman of character and believed that one should hold onto their character and not just veer off to please other people.”

Her children will remember her most for her tenacity, her determination, and her willingness to never give up no matter what.

“I don’t think that she ever found that obstacle in life that she couldn’t or didn’t believe that she will overcome,” Phillips said.