Marlene McAlevey

Marlene McAlevey

Jay - Marlene McAlevey, who taught in the East Ramapo Central School District for more than 30 years before her retirement in 1995, and devoted wife of 43 years to former Town of Ramapo Supervisor, John F. McAlevey, who survives her, died unexpectedly in her sleep on July 14, 2019, following spinal surgery in New York City. She was 82.

Marlene graduated from Hunter College in New York in 1958. She began her career as an educator in 1959 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York. In 1963, she relocated to Monsey, New York. She taught nearly all elementary grades in several schools, including Hillcrest, Fleetwood, and Eldorado Elementary Schools in Rockland County. In 1973, she received an MA in Education from Hunter. She worked tirelessly for the rights of teachers, serving as the elected Chapter Chair at Hillcrest Elementary School. She was committed to quality public education for all youth, and she worked during her life to promote the fact that a motivated union is the best mechanism to defend and protect the teaching profession.

For the last several years, Marlene and John McAlevey resided in Jay, New York, where they kept a small vacation home, and in Manhattan's upper west side, close to Lincoln Center, where they enjoyed opera together.

Marlene Suzanne McAlevey was born on May 29, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York, the first of two daughters born to David Gordon Kaplan and Fannie Kaplan. She was an avid athlete. As a child, she was a semi-professional ballet dancer, appearing on stage in New York City. She was a competitive tennis player in her prime. In her later years, the McAleveys enjoyed winter sports together, including cross-country skiing in the woods around Lake Placid, New York.

Marlene and John McAlevey married on July 7, 1976. They met in October 1975, fell deeply in love, and created through their love for each other a large, loving family, of which Marlene was the beating heart. The McAleveys traveled together widely, but always returned to Jay, where they entertained their children, grandchildren, and many friends in style.

Marlene is survived by her husband, John F. McAlevey, of New York; by her sister, Beth Morris, of Riverdale, New York; and by her children and step-children: Benedict McAlevey of West Palm Beach, Florida; John B. McAlevey, of Silver Creek, New York; Thomas McAlevey of Palawan, The Philippines; Birgitta McAlevey, of Sharon, Massachusetts; Mitchell Rotbert, of Rockville, Maryland; Clifford Rotbert, of New York, New York; and Jane F. McAlevey, of Muir Beach, California. She is survived by sixteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her step-daughter, Catherine B. McAlevey (2013), her step-son, Peter C. McAlevey (2014), and her granddaughter, Pernilla McAlevey (2017). Her first marriage to Stanley B. Rotbert ended in divorce.

Private funeral services were held in New York on July 17, 2019. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to a cause that you believe Marlene would be proud to endorse, including any cause that tends to strengthen and sustain the nation she loved from slipping further into fascism.