Sarah Smith Hackett, a long-time resident of Port Washington and Great Neck, died on March 30, 2006, after a brief illness at Glen Meadows Retirement Community in Glen Arm.

Mrs. Hackett was born in Baltimore, MD, on March 12, 1918. She resided in Roland Park and attended Roland Park Country School and graduated from Western High School in 1935. It was at Western that she met Lucille Tingle Mason, Director of Music, who recognized the quality of her contralto voice and sponsored her to attend the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Upon graduation from Western she was hired to work at Hutzler's Department Store in 1935, first as a "stuffer" filing credit slips, then promoted to the Toy Department. Her starting salary was $12 a week. As it was the middle of the Great Depression she was thrilled to have secured a job and stayed there for six years. During her lunch hour her mother would drive downtown and rush her to the Peabody for her voice lessons with Frank Bibb. Her next employment was at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Women's Clinic 1942 - 1945. During this time she sang as a professional soloist in Baltimore churches including Emmanuel, St. Thomas' (Garrison Forest) and the Pro-Cathedral.

Her passion for music continued throughout her life. She was a season subscriber to the Metropolitan Opera throughout her years in Manhattan and Long Island.

In October 1945 at the age of 27 she went to visit a friend in New York City. She was so smitten with Manhattan that she soon resigned from her job at Hopkins Hospital and moved to New York, living at the Alden Hotel for women. She became enchanted with the fashion industry and worked several jobs in advertising and as a flower designer in a hat shop. Then she was hired to write for Women's Wear Daily, a Fairchild publication where she was an editor in several different departments before becoming Dress Editor. She had fond memories of going out to meet ocean liners arriving in New York to get the first "scoop" and interviews with the European dress designers. Dressed in the standard business attire of the day of a suit, high heels, gloves and a hat, she recalled how tricky it was mounting the narrow metal ladder suspended alongside the hull of the ship. One missed step would end with a plunge in the East River.

In 1958 she married James D. Hackett Jr. She resigned from Women's Wear Daily and moved to Great Neck and then Port Washington. They had one son, Rory Taylor Hackett. Mrs. Hackett launched into what was to become a most productive and satisfying career as a volunteer. She was listed annually in Who's Who in American Women.

Arrangements were made by the Mitchell-Wakefield Funeral Home, Baltimore.

Marcia J. Springer, a Great Neck resident for more than four decades and a prominent member of Temple Isaiah, died at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset on April 1, 2006. She was 75 years old and married to Dr. Claude Springer, a retired dentist. The cause of death, according to Dr. Springer, was complications from her long battle with scleroderma and heart problems.

Marcia was born June 1, 1930 in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. After graduation from Evander Childs High School she attended NYU on a four-year scholarship. She majored in chemistry and minored in biology. She earned a bachelor of arts and a master of speech therapy degree from NYU.

Marcia and Claude Springer met in an NYU chemistry laboratory at Washington Square. A year after graduation, they married and moved to Philadelphia where Claude studied dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania. The Springers were stationed in Germany, where Claude served in the US Army as a dentist. They were married almost 55 years.

While she lived in Philadelphia, Marcia Springer worked as a chemist for the Quaker Drug Company. As a young woman and throughout much of her life her interests included world history, classic music concerts and Jewish history and religion. She was a lifetime member of Hadassah, the Jewish women's organization and a member of the Great Neck Black-Jewish Dialogue, an organization founded by Mount Olive Baptist Church in Manhasset and Temple Beth El of Great Neck.

The Springers first came to Great Neck in 1956. Then, for five years they lived in Little Neck. In 1962, they bought a house in Great Neck near Great Neck North High School. For some years, Mrs. Springer taught English as a Second Language at the Clover Drive School.

Marcia Springer and her husband, Claude, were active members of Temple Isaiah for 25 years. For about two decades, she was a member of the Temple's Board of Trustees and her husband, also a longtime board member, served four terms as president. Marcia Springer was chair or co-chair of many committees of the board. She was always in the forefront of those who provided leadership and volunteered time and energy to arrange events and programs of the temple.

"Marcia was one of our most loyal members," said Rabbi Theodore Tsuruoka, spiritual leader of the temple. "There was hardly a temple event she and Claude didn't attend. On most Friday evenings, I would look out over the congregation at the start of the service, and I'd see Marcia in her usual spot. It was a great comfort to me to see her there. Marcia possessed a wonderful speaking voice, which made her someone I'd naturally call upon to read a bible passage or narrate a Purim spiel or lead a service. She was a person the temple could call upon for help, counsel and total dedication."

For many years at Temple Isaiah, Marcia was in charge of arrangements for a progressive dinner and for a program to promote participation of congregants in portions of High Holiday services. Each summer the Springers invited Isaiah congregants to their home for summer services. On such occasions, she and her husband conducted the services. Marcia also read the portion of the Torah for that date and discussed its historical significance. Her knowledge of the Hebrew Bible was extensive.

In addition to Claude, other survivors include sons, Jeffrey, a computer programmer, and David, a psychiatrist; two adopted daughters, Joann, an office manager for an investment firm, and Wendy, an executive secretary for a chemical company; and five granddaughters.

Alvin Mooney died at home on April 4, 2006. Born on June 25, 1919, he graduated from the Columbia University School of Dental Surgery in 1942 and practiced dentistry in New York City for over 50 years. A caring and generous professional, he donated his time to underserved city children.

He was an avid sailor, teaching boating and navigation, and serving as Commander of the Manhasset Bay Power Squadron.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Doris, two daughters; Martha Klein and Deborah Harris; two grandchildren; Hillary Beberman and Alex Klein, and two great-grand children; Andrew and Jill Beberman.

Santa Nalbone, of Great Neck, died on April 14, 2006. Wife of the late Louis. Survived by many family members and friends. Arrangements were made by McCourt & Trudden Funeral Home, Farmingdale. Funeral Mass was held at St. Kilian RC Church. Interment St. Charles Cemetery. Great Neck's renowned jazz photographer, William P. Gottlieb, died on Sunday, April 23, at age 89. Known as probably the greatest jazz photographer of all time, he won many awards and accolades, and his famed photographs are in the Library of Congress. A memorial service will be on Friday, April 28, 11 a.m., at Riverside-Nassau North Chapel, 55 North Station Plaza, Great Neck. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: Jazz Musician Emergency Fund, c/o Jazz Foundation of America (third floor), 322 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036. A full story on Bill Gottlieb will be featured in next week's issue of the Great Neck Record.