Karen D’Esposito
Karen D’Esposito died in her Westhampton home on December 2 after a two-and-a-half year battle with cancer. She was 61.
Born Karen O’Dowd on July 29, 1951, survivors said her love of family, and their love for her, is her enduring legacy, along with a full and highly successful career in teaching and union leadership. She was the fire that forged a joined family of children and stepchildren, doing so with love, kindness, understanding and just the right amount of orneriness, they said.
Ms. D’Esposito was a social studies teacher at William Floyd High School for almost 30 years when her illness prompted her to contemplate retirement, which she did in January 2011. For more than 10 years of her career in the William Floyd School District, she also served as the teachers union president and director of the Teacher Center. In those capacities, she represented the interests of teachers, students and the community at large, as she negotiated fair contracts for teachers, oversaw the development of programs for the improvement and development of teachers, and participated in many philanthropic ventures both within the community and beyond. She was an integral part of a community relief effort in response to Hurricane Katrina, and visited the devastated area in conjunction with that effort.
Ms. D’Esposito defended the rights of teachers with vigor, energy and tireless determination, while simultaneously applying that same dedication to her students and community. She was a district resident, living in Shirley for more than 20 years before moving to Westhampton and marrying her husband, Rich, on January 9, 1993. She was a parishioner at St. Jude’s Roman Catholic Church in Mastic Beach when she lived in Shirley. For the last 20 years she was a parishioner at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Westhampton Beach.
In addition to her husband of 20 years, she is survived by three sons, Christopher, Brian and Craig Brown; two stepchildren, Laura and Rich D’Esposito; and three daughters-in-law, Sarah Johnson, Michelle Brown and Michele D’Esposito. She is also survived by seven grandchildren, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Kiley, Caden and Liam Brown and Luca D’Esposito; two brothers, Mike and Jack O’Dowd; and two sisters-in-law, Val O’Dowd and Elaine Lemke. Her first husband, John Brown, predeceased her, as did her parents, Mike and Maureen O’Dowd.
Visiting was held at Sinnicksons Moriches Funeral Home in Center Moriches on December 4. A funeral Mass was celebrated on December 5 at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception on Quiogue with Monsignor Miro officiating. Interment followed at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Center Moriches.
on Dec 14, 2012