Longtime well-known Amityville resident and registered nurse Mary K. Naimoli died Oct. 26, 2008 at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, where she worked. She was 88 years old.

She was born May 19, 1920 in New York City to Edward and Mary (Boland) Manning and graduated from Lady Cliff College, St. Vincent's School of Nursing and New York University. For many years she served as the Director of Nursing at Good Samaritan and was a professor of nursing at SUNY Farmingdale.

For more than 60, years she lived in an historical home on Bourdett Place in Amityville. According to her daughter, Christine Fanelli of Manhattan and Amityville, her mother owned the property where the the Nautilus Diner now sits. At one time, it was the site of the Massapequa Villa Nursing Home, where her mother lived, and a barn for her horses. During the 1950s, she could be seen riding her horses in Amityville with her friend Sandy deQuillfeldt.

After selling the property, she boarded her horses at Thomas' School of horsemanship in Bethpage. Every year, in the New York City Patrick's Day Parade, she proudly rode her favorite horse, Sugar, as part of the Kopel Group equestrian team.

Mrs. Naimoli volunteered her nursing skills at the Amityville Public Library and was a member of the Amityville Women's Club and the Unqua Corinthian Yacht Club and was a Rotarian. She was a world traveler and a woman

ahead of her time who liked to meditate, sing and sculpt, said her family.

A snowbird, she spent her winters in Sebastian, Florida. For more than 20 years, she vacationed in their home Playa Del Nosara, Costa Rica where she volunteered as a nurse and helped the locals.

Because of her travels, she had friends near and far.

"My husband and I always enjoyed her and her husband's company," said Peggy Van Nostrand of Amityville and Sebastian, Florida, a longtime friend. "We knew her for more than 25 years, and she just loved to entertain."

In addition to her daughter Christine, and her husband Patrick Fanelli, Mrs. Naimoli also leaves behind her other children: Kate Weiman of Manhattan, and Steve and his wife Kim of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her grandchildren, Andrew, Dina, Eben, Michael and Peter and her great grandchildren: Ava, Abby, Ethan and Jack, and many friends also survive her. She was predeceased by her husband of 59 years, John in 2004.

Her nephew Dean James O'Neill, from St. Anthony's R.C. Church in Oceanside, conducted a prayer service at the Powell Funeral Home, Amityville on Oct. 31, 2008. A private cremation followed. Interment was held on Nov. 7, 2008 in the Amityville Cemetery.