Long before she became a fixture in local government and an advocate for at-risk youth, Ida D’Angelo’s story began in East New York, Brooklyn, where she was born in an apartment above her grandfather’s candy store. Raised in Richmond Hill, Queens, she was a young woman attending a dance at Lost Battalion Hall, in Rego Park, when she caught the eye of Pat D’Angelo.
For Pat, it was love at first sight. The couple married in October 1953 and set off on an upstate honeymoon, where Ida tucked a single autumn leaf into her photo album —a small, cherished memory she preserved for the rest of her life.
In 1964, Ida and Pat bought their forever home in Valley Stream, where they raised three children, Lisa, Carmine and Victor. When they entered Wheeler Avenue Elementary School, Ida threw herself into community service, starting with the PTA.
“As soon as we started school in Wheeler Avenue Elementary, mom began her lifelong commitment to the community, starting with the Wheeler Avenue PTA,” Victor D’Angelo wrote in the family’s eulogy.
His mother died on Sept. 1, at age 95.
Her defining life’s work emerged in the mid-1970s. Spurred by a tragic heroin epidemic sweeping Valley Stream, and the overdose of a local Central High School student, a coalition of teachers and concerned residents formed Friends of Bridge. D’Angelo helped lead the organization, guiding its growth into a vital lifeline that provided individual and group addiction-recovery services to dozens of community members each week. She became president of the group’s board of directors in 2010.
Her work with Friends of Bridge focused on protecting neighborhood youth and supporting struggling families.
“People like Ida don’t come along very often,” said Barbara DeGrace, a close friend and D’Angelo’s predecessor as Friends of Bridge’s president. “When someone of this generation passes, it’s almost like they now become a piece of our history, and we must never forget her contributions, nor the lasting mark she has made on our community and on our hearts.”
D’Angelo also spent nearly 25 years on the board of the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library, eventually serving as its president. Using her connections in both organizations, she helped connect the library directly with the students at Friends of Bridge.
Recognizing that teenagers in the program followed a standard high school curriculum, D’Angelo coordinated with the library to supply extra copies of teen-centered books for group reading sessions, and arranged visits from guest authors to provide further educational enrichment.
“When I was looking for a site to have these authors come in and expand the libraries services, she said, ‘Well, what about Bridge?’” Mamie Eng, director of the Waldinger Library, said of D’Angelo. “She understood that it was our mission to provide services to everybody in the community. So when we had a new idea, she says, ‘Oh, let’s go with it.’”
Her commitment to community service eventually carried into local government. After Pat D’Angelo died in 2001, Ida took a job in the Valley Stream village tax department, offering residents friendly assistance — a role she came to love so much that she would have continued working had the pandemic not have intervened.
“When we think of the term ‘public servant,’ we often forget that there is a human component to the discharge of municipal work,” Valley Stream Mayor Ed Fare said. “Ida never forgot that concept. She treated everyone like they were someone special. She put people at ease, and almost always left them laughing and smiling at her good-natured interactions. We all miss her, her smiling face, her kind words and her dedicated public service.”
Outside her public life, D’Angelo’s heart was always centered on her family and faith. A devout member and a Eucharistic minister at Blessed Sacrament Church, she balanced her extensive public service with her involvement in all her children’s school and club activities.
Dinner was served at home every night, with no television or radio allowed, to ensure quality family discussion, and she kept to her parents’ tradition of reserving Sundays for a huge family meal at around 4 p.m. D’Angelo enjoyed hobbies including pottery and ceramics, and later in life she enjoyed learning mahjong and playing biweekly card games with a close-knit group of friends.
“She valued education and the importance of family and family history,” Victor D’Angelo wrote in the family eulogy. “We will continue to honor and remember our family members who have passed, and we will pass these lessons along to mom’s 4 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.”
Funeral services were held at Lieber Funeral Home, followed by her interment on Sept. 5.
Ida D’Angelo leaves behind a legacy of civic commitment, deep faith and community support. She is remembered by her children, her four grandchildren and her six great-grandchildren — who affectionately called her GG, for Great-Grandma — and a community forever shaped by her service.
