Friends and neighbors noted with sadness the passing of Sharon J. Russek on January 2 following a long illness.
Russek, a Little Neck resident, succumbed just six days before her 68th birthday, according to her husband of 43 years, Norman Russek. She is also survived by a sister, Debbie.
The Russeks were familiar figures around Little Neck and Douglaston, where they were dedicated volunteers for the neighborhood's massive Memorial Day parade, serving in some capacity during its fundraising and other events for many years.
“Sharon and Norman weren’t complicated people,” said James J. Rogers, chairman of the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade Organization. “If you gave [her] a job to do, [she] just went off and did it."
“Every year went by very fast,” Norman Russek said to friends who stopped by the Douglaston home of Barbara Rehren and Bill Bart - friends of the Russeks who opened their home for him to have a Jewish shiva observance.
“She was such a wonderful person,” said Rehren. Shiva callers remembered her as bringing a forceful presence despite her diminutive stature.
“We’re all just people – bad moods, bad breath, you know,” Norman Russek said. “I learned to live with her and I loved her.”
