Lifelong Sag Harbor resident Dolores L. Silvey McNamara died on August 19, after a brief illness. She was 89.
Born in Southampton in August 1926 to Daniel Silvey and Elsie Fordham Silvey, she was the 11th-generation descendant of Nathan Fordham, Esq., one of three original settlers of Sag Harbor (previously known as Fordhamville) in 1729. Nathan Fordham was descended from Reverend Robert Fordham of Hertfordshire, England, who came to Southampton in 1648. He was the first governor of Hempstead, but later moved to the Southampton colony after a disagreement with then governor Peter Stuyvesant of the New York colony. Rev. Fordham was the second minister to the Southampton settlement’s First Presbyterian Church. He and his future generations’ contributions eventually helped the original colonies gain independence from Great Britain and ultimately the creation of the United States.
In 1947, Ms. McNamara graduated with honors as a registered nurse from the Mary Immaculate Hospital School of Nursing in Jamaica, New York. Her career spanned many assignments and locations, including Mary Immaculate Hospital, ship-board medical staff on the United States Lines passenger ships, Southampton Hospital as well as numerous volunteer ventures with the Palatine and St. Regis organizations and later as school nurse for St. Andrew’s Elementary School.
While working for United States Lines, she met her future husband, Captain Robert F. McNamara, who was also employed by the same company as ship master on various vessels and international routes for nearly 30 years. They were married in 1949 in St. Andrew’s Church in Sag Harbor. Settling first in Merrick, they permanently moved in 1957 to Sag Harbor, where they built their North Haven home and raised their three children.
Ms. McNamara always had an ardent interest in local politics and especially the fragile environment of Long Island, in particular North Haven. In the late 1960s, she joined the North Haven Village Planning Board, which she served on for nearly 12 years. Committed to environmental conservation and preservation, she ran for and was successfully elected as the first woman mayor of the Village of North Haven, a volunteer position in which she served from 1980 to 1982. Considered avant-garde for the time, she persevered to mark her contribution to environmental preservation for both present and future generations of the East End, survivors said, especially water quality and availability plus land preservation for the East End’s sensitive environment. She enjoyed both domestic and international travel, various cultures and often shared the many rich experiences she had with both family and friends. Gardening was a favorite pastime, as were reading and keeping current on both domestic and world politics. Genealogy and family history was also one of her passions and, with the help of her son, she was able to trace family members as far back as the 12th century. This research also helped the discovery that Daniel Fordham was one of the original builders of Sag Harbor’s Long Wharf, built during the latter 1700s for whaling and trade and used as the first customs port of call for New York State. Later in life she became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sag Harbor Historical Society and the Group for the South Fork.
Ms. McNamara is survived by three children, Donna Issenberg, Dolores McNamara and Robert McNamara, all of Sag Harbor. She is also survived by a sister, Rose Holder of Vermont; and a brother, Daniel Silvey Jr. of South Glens Falls. Her husband predeceased her in 1976.
A memorial Mass will be planned for next spring, Ms. McNamara’s favorite season, and announced in a future edition of The Press.
Memorial donations may be sent to St. Joseph’s Indian School, 1301 N. Main Street, Chamberlain, SD 57236, or St. Labre Indian School, 1000 Tongue River Road, Ashland, MT 59003.
on Sep 7, 2015