Sydell Appelbaum Goretsky, 91, passed away Wednesday, May 24 in Maitland, Florida, following a superhuman effort to keep on going despite many years of illness and decline.
Born and raised in Bronx, New York, she moved to Bayside, (Queens) with her husband, Milton and their son, Alan. The family adopted a baby girl, Robin, not long after.
She worked in the registrar’s office at Queensborough Community College, which she loved, and where she made many close friends. Actually, she made lifelong friends at her subsequent jobs, people she considered family and with whom she was still in touch.
Sydell, Milton and Robin relocated to Plantation, Florida in 1979. She became a widow in 1988, and very happily retired in the early 1990s. She kept busy babysitting, going out to lunch with friends, traveling a bit with family, and helping to raise her Florida grandchildren. She later relocated to Altamonte Springs.
She is survived by many: her daughter and son-in-law, Robin and Joe Monti; her grandchildren, Mitchell and Stephanie Sommers, Melissa (Goretsky) and Jeffrey Van Liew; Adam and Heather Goretsky; Charles Wilson and Kristin Eymold. She is also survived by eight great grandchildren (plus one on the way): Triston, Logan, Olivia, Michelle, Celeste, Lanna, Aiden and Jordan, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Her family hopes she is now with her son, Alan, her husband, Milton, her parents, Bessie and Willie, and other loved ones who have gone before her.