Elizabeth M. Ostrander died on October 4 at her home in Southampton. She was 84.
Born in Brooklyn in 1925 to William and Theresa Smelling Griggs, she worked for the Democratic National Committee at its headquarters in Manhattan. Chair of the 1980 Democratic National Convention in Madison Square Garden in New York City, she was an accomplished organizer and well-known in New York State politics and had close ties with Governor Mario Cuomo and Senator Ted Kennedy.
Locally, she served as deputy clerk to the Suffolk County Legislature and was on the board of trustees for Stony Brook University in Stony Brook.
Family members said this week that she will be dearly missed.
She is survived by a daughter, Jacqueline Elizabeth Ostrander of Southampton; two sons, William Paul Ostrander and his wife Keew Suporn of Southampton, and Remsen G. Ostrander of Queens; and a grandson, John Remsen Mitchell of Southampton. She was predeceased by her husband, Remsen B. Ostrander, in January 2008.
Following cremation, memorial visitation will be held on Sunday, October 11, from 4 to 6 p.m., at O’Connell Funeral Home in Southampton.
on Oct 7, 2009