Dionne Domine-McMahon

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Beginning Wednesday, May 19, 2021, visitor capacity restrictions will be eliminated. We will continue to require of visitors the recommended social distancing of 6 feet. We will maintain a reasonable amount of visitors at any given time. Please be mindful that visitors are to be respectful to those who may be waiting by keeping your stay brief.  

Dee was born on July 15, 1974 at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center.  What happened from that day to July 16, 2021 was a life of family, friends, love and perseverance.  How do we remember Dee from so rich and full a life?

We remember her as the firstborn daughter of Tony and Myrna, living at Waterloo Place in Far Rockaway, NY, going to elementary school at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea, as someone who everyone wanted to be friends with because of her sweet and positive attitude;

We remember her befriending two girls the same age who lived around the block in Harbour Court, playing as kids in cul de sacs and backyards and creating foundations for the best of friendships;

We remember her as an excited young 5-year old whose lifelong friend arrived in 1979 and made her into something she always treasured being called – sister;

We remember her as the precocious teenager who moved to Lynbrook, was the new girl but found out everyone still wanted to be friends with her because her nature did not change…but she still kept her best friends from Far Rockaway always near and close to her heart;

We remember her as a great student and cheerleader at Lynbrook High School, who during a Business Law class caught the eye of a certain star basketball player who sat six rows away from her on the first day of class but somehow successfully schemed to sit right behind her by the end of the week

We remember her as a prospective accounting major at Hofstra University, whose inquisitive mind was so full of ideas and whose character was already imbued with a need to help others; that this one career seemed to be just the beginning…;

We remember her as a valued colleague at Astoria Federal Bank whose personable and authentic nature cultivated long-standing relationships with customers and co-workers that last to this day;

We remember her as the beautiful woman in the white gown who on November 29, 1997 agreed to spend the rest of her life with a certain star HS basketball player who still to this day hasn’t learned any Business Law;

We remember her on May 23, 2004 when their greatest treasure in life arrived and provided her the most precious title she would carry - mother;

We remember her as the self-aware woman who in 2005 knew that something just didn’t feel right and that something was coming that would require her to steel herself for a fight;

We remember her strength and determination during that first 4+ year battle where she refused to let something malignant break her body and spirit;

We remember her coming out of that battle with a soul of a fighter, tempered to the point where nothing could shatter her, but also a healing spirit that wanted to embrace a duty of care shown to her by the many nurses who helped her;

We remember her as a student again at Nassau Community College and Chamberlain University, eager to learn the skills to help those overcome the health struggles that she herself endured;

We remember her as the proud graduate in 2014, starting her next professional life to help people become as blessed as she and Kevin were as parents;

We remember her working as a Reproductive Specialist at NYU Langone, continuing her personal and authentic interactions with colleagues and patients alike, feeling as though “The Big Dee” had finally found the place where she belonged and could be a healer of body and mind;

We remember how she instilled Meghan with the same fighting spirit to become a strong student on the path to becoming a stronger woman;

We remember how lucky and blessed she felt to be a wife to Kevin, a mother to Meghan, to be someone whose job it was to help others create new lives, to have family and friends who loved her dearly, to feel like her heart was so full;

We remember their despair in April 2020, receiving the worst of news during a time when everyone had to be alone and they could not be in the company of family or friends to help support them, where she once again had to draw on her strength and fighting spirit to endure to be #DeeStrong;

We remember her love and gratitude for Tito Tony, Tita Myrna, Diane, Sean , Kevin and Meghan, helping her as the days started becoming darker but her light never dimmed;

We remember her on July 16, 2021, when her battle ended and she finally won.

Yes, she won.  It was a fight that was never fair to begin with.  And it wasn’t so because this disease without a cure, one that she defeated once already, unfairly came back and attacked her physically in a way that even her incredible strength could not overcome.  It’s because this disease had the audacity to try and break her spirit, a spirit strengthened by 47 years of family, friends, love and perseverance.  How could this disease stand a chance in a fight against so rich and full a life?

So, in the end she won.  We will miss that we cannot talk to her, hug her, kiss her.  But we can remember her for everything above.  We can remember her as a wife, the only person that Kevin wanted to spend forever with.  We can remember her as a mother, a well of strength that Meghan can always draw from.  We can remember her as a healer, a student, a colleague, a best friend, a sister, and a daughter. 

We can remember Dee because she’s unforgettable.