Wantagh French, Spanish teacher Eleanore Foti dies

As a teacher of French and Spanish for more than three decades, Eleanore Foti of Wantagh conducted lessons with joie de vivre - even breaking into dance steps to accompany her conjugations of verbs.

But Foti - who died last week at 85 - could also agonize over grades given her students.

One former student, Linda Labriola, who became close friends with Foti as an adult, recalled an occasion when the two were having coffee after the teacher retired.

"Linda, I have one regret from my teaching career," Foti told Labriola. "My one regret is that I didn't give you an 80 on that Regents exam."

Labriola, an admittedly indifferent student of Spanish, had scored 79 on the exam - and was happy to get that.

Foti, who taught full time at Wantagh's middle school and high school until 1993, and as a substitute after that, died Nov. 14 of injuries sustained in a fall nine days earlier.

Her funeral Wednesday at St. Frances de Chantal Roman Catholic Church drew hundreds of mourners who had known Foti through her teaching and other activities.

Biking was high on that activities list. Foti regularly joined other women in Saturday bike rides to Jones Beach and Bethpage State Park, and she cycled through much of Europe as well.

Following her retirement, she and her husband, Frank, now 90, participated in 11 bike tours of France, Sweden, Croatia and other countries, traveling 10 to 12 days at a stretch and for hundreds of miles.

The Fotis finally gave up biking three years ago. But they continued traveling - their last trip, to Dubai, was in March.

"I couldn't believe these people were doing this," said a daughter, Dianne Kaplan, 60, of Seaford, who once joined her parents on a bike tour of Provence, in France, and came away with aching legs.

Foti was born Eleanore Gazzola in Rye, on May 23, 1925. She earned a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in education from the College of New Rochelle in 1947, and married Frank Foti two years later. She earned a master's degree in education from Hofstra University in 1965.

After retiring, Foti taught religion classes for 11 years at St. Frances de Chantal Church.

She was also active in local volunteer groups, including a United Cerebral Palsy auxiliary and the Red Hat Society, a social network for women over 50.

Besides her husband and daughter, Foti is survived by a son, Frank, of West Islip, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.