Elise Joan Urbas

Elise Joan passed away peacefully at her home in the Sunrise Senior Living Facility on February 27th.  She was 90 years old.

She leaves behind her two sons, Layne and Don, their wives, Marie and Anette and six grandsons, Shane, his wife, Anna, Eric, Val, Ian, Christopher and Stefan and his wife Ann Marie, one great granddaughter, Emily and one granddaughter, Liv and her husband, Chris and their son, or great grandson, Isaac.

Joan or EJ, as she like to be called was married to her dear husband, Walter for 55 years until his death in 2005. They loved playing bridge with their many friends and Joan was the one responsible for getting the family together for reunions from time to time.

Scholastically, she did very well, earning her B.A. in Psychology, from Hunter College in 1962 while still raising a family and then in 1966 her Master’s Degree in Reading from Adelphi University. This enabled her to start as a Kindergarten Teacher in Franklin Square, NY, then a Reading Teacher at the Sea Cliff Elementary School; and from there go on to serve as the Assistant Principle at Harbor Fields HS. Then she transitioned to becoming the Principal of the Willis Ave. Elementary School in Mineola and when that school closed, Mrs. Urbas was then hired as the Elementary School Principal of Covert Ave. School, in Elmont, NY, where she served in that capacity for 12 years.

When she retired, she and Walter moved down to Maryland where they had a condo with a water view of the Chesapeake Bay.

Over the years, Joan was the recipient of many awards including: the 1986 National Organization for Women Sisterhood Citation, the 1988 Arthur E. Hamalainen Award, the 1988 Council of Administrators Supervisors Award. She also loved to volunteer as a docent at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and after Walter died, she moved to Charlestown, an Erickson Senior Property. While there she became regularly active in their theater company until a series of strokes left suffering from Dementia. Her children then decided that it would be in her best interest to move her up to Sunrise in East Setauket where she could be closer to her family.

Zoom Username: 331 169 8511

Zoom Password: Urbas

In lieu of flowers you can donate to either the Gateway Youth Outreach which serves the children of Elmont or the League of Women Voters of NYS.