Margaret Albora

Margaret Albora (Mom), was born on May 13, 1921. She was born in the family house on Pitkin Ave in East New York Brooklyn. She was the third child of Luigi Seminara and Mary Scimeca. Catherine and Josephine preceded her and Santo, Salvatore and Lucy followed her. They were a family of eight.

At the age of 8 or 9 mom got sick. She stayed in bed for a long time-paralyzed. Her father would carry her to the train and take her to a place in Brooklyn for electric baths. She believed they were treating her for rheumatic fever. During this time in the 1930’s, the growth of her left leg stunted. She was diagnosed with infantile paralysis or Polio. The Polio vaccine would not be invented until the 1950’s.

She went to the University Hospital of Brooklyn to have her dropped foot fused.

In her teens, she went to the NYS Reconstruction Hospital in West Haverstraw to have her hammer toes corrected. She learned to play the saxophone there. At some point, she was sent to a rehabilitation camp on Long Island. While running she fell and broke her left leg. She was sent back to a hospital in Brooklyn where she spent months in traction.

All of this contributed to her pronounced limp.

My grandmother encouraged her children to read. She would walk mom and her siblings to the library. Mom was a voracious reader. Her last author of choice was Danielle Steel, who she started reading in 2020. When she passed she was reading her 66th Danielle Steel novel.

Mom graduated from F.K. Lane High School in 1941.

The family would live in 4 different houses or apartments in East New York, Brooklyn.

She worked various clerical and secretarial jobs in Queens and Manhattan.

She married my father, John in 1951. They would be married for 61 years and have two sons, Paul and John.

They moved to a house in South Ozone Park with my father’s brother Frank, His wife Angela and my father’s sister Minnie. They lived there for 5 years.

In 1956 they moved into a brand new house in Plainview. Paul was 3 and John would come along 2 years later. Mom would live in that house for 66 years. I believe she was the last

original owner on the block. My uncle Frank and Aunt Angie bought the house next door. We were very close. The Plainview house was a split level, which meant mom would have to go up and down 3 flights of stairs to do laundry.

There were many parties at those two houses.

For their 25th anniversary my parents had a party at the VFW hall in Plainview. An after party was planned in our backyard. When the hall party ended Paul and I couldn’t find mom and dad so we headed home assuming they had gotten a ride. When we got to the house someone asked, “where’s your parents?” We drove back towards the hall and found that they had started to walk home. Apparently they were paying the bill in the basement when we left.

All meals were home cooked. Mom was an exceptional cook and baker. My parents scrimped and saved. Their goal was for their sons to go to college.

Holiday meals were amazing. They were always a joint effort and celebrated with my aunt and uncle and cousins Dianne and Janet. My mom and aunt spent hours in the kitchen preparing. Meals were 6 courses at least. Everything was delicious.

When they moved to Plainview mom did not drive, so she would often walk to stores that were nearby. Eventually, dad put a “Student Driver” sign on the back of the family car and taught her to drive. Mom would often go to 3 different supermarkets to get the best deals, always using coupons. Gas was cheap back then.

Mom worked in the Plainview Old-Bethpage School district for 16 years. She retired as a Personnel Clerk in 1985.

When my brother Paul was a junior in high school he decided he would go to a state college. He got an application and put it on his bedroom desk. He forgot about it, as he was more interested in girls, football, lacrosse, surfing and girls. One day a friend mentioned the application was due tomorrow. When he got home he told mom he forgot about it. She told him she had already filled it out and sent it in. He graduated Cortland, went on to graduate school and then dental school. My parents were never so proud as when he graduated dental school. Their hard work and his hard work had paid off.

After retiring, mom busied herself with cooking, baking, ceramics, knitting and crocheting.

In 2011, at the age of 90 she injured her leg. The stairs became impossible for her. She and dad stayed with me in Hicksville while we had electric stairs installed in their home.

Dad passed away in 2012.

Mom was able to take care of herself up until the age of 97. In 2018 she fell in her home and fractured her left leg in 2 places. She spent 3 months in a rehab facility. When she returned home, she needed a live-in aide.

She was a loving caring mother who put her family first.

She was a strong woman who overcame her physical disabilities and never let them slow her down. She never ever complained.

She smiled frequently and laughed often. She was loved and will be terribly missed.

A visitation for Margaret will be held Sunday, September 11, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, 125 Old Country Rd, Hicksville, New York 11801. A Mass of Christian Burial will occur Monday, September 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Our Lady Of Mercy RC Church, 500 S Oyster Bay Rd, Hicksville, New York 11801. Margaret will be laid to rest in Holy Rood Cemetery, 111 Old Country Road, Westbury, New York 11590. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Margaret's memory may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.VernonCWagnerFuneralHome.com for the Albora family.