Lynn DeRosa, Syosset High art teacher, dies at 89

Longtime Huntington Village resident Lynn DeRosa, who taught art at Syosset High School for 23 years and was a powerful force in the Huntington arts community, died April 3 of natural causes. She was 89.

For many years, DeRosa operated The Primavera Art Gallery in Huntington. She was a member of the Long Island Craft Guild and worked in all manner of artistic media, continuing well into her 80s.

"She was very versatile," said Alicia O'Connell of Manhattan, a student who went on to become a lifelong friend.

DeRosa, in a 96-page typewritten memoir, wrote of how she enjoyed "working with these wonderful people" at Syosset High School and "the joy of working in this incredible school." She retired in 1982.

O'Connell said DeRosa lived a rich and rewarding life and focused on encouraging others.

"She was my mentor, my role model . . . she was my inspiration," said O'Connell, 47, who met DeRosa 32 years ago when she was in DeRosa's art class at the high school. "She was so dear to me."

DeRosa, whose maiden name was Evelyn Ebba Lagerstrom, was born in Chicago on July 2, 1920. She met John DeRosa, her husband of 38 years, in an art class she was teaching at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1947.

Throughout their years together they shared a passion for art, and in 1981 they opened The Primavera Art Gallery. Her husband died in 1987.

Although health concerns kept DeRosa homebound toward the end of her life, her spirit never faded, O'Connell said.

Before she moved to Arizona last year, she was taken into Manhattan for a tour of her favorite spots there.

One of those was Bryant Park, where she was photographed by Michaela Dalzell, a city-based photographer who has featured DeRosa in a selection of pictures titled "Finding Love in New York City."

She is survived by her nieces, Antoinette McGetrick of Gold Canyon, Ariz., Dolores Nachowitz Robare of Chicago, Alice Klavans of Bethesda, Md., and Carol Petersen of Austin, Texas; and nephew, Arthur Nachowitz of Custer Park, Ill.