Kathleen A. Reba

Visitation- Monday November 19, 2018 from 2-4:30 & 7-9:30 p.m. at our West Sayville Funeral Home, 245 Main St.

Funeral Mass- Tuesday November 20, 2018 at 9:45 a.m. at St. John Nepomucene R.C. Church, Bohemia

Interment- St. Lawrence Cemetery, Sayville

Kathleen Reba, 64, of Sayville, NY, passed away on November 16, 2018, of complications of lung cancer. She is survived by her two beloved children, Juliette Valenti (and husband Joseph Valenti) and Patrick Reba (and fiancée Marissa Ruocco) and their father, Richard Reba, along with two adoring granddaughters, Millie and Maybelle Valenti, and her sister, Patricia Henry (and husband Peter Henry). She also leaves scores of family members, friends, colleagues, and fellow artists who are bereft at her loss even as they celebrate her life.

Kathy was born in 1954 in Hollis, Queens, which was neither a time nor a place that encouraged artistic ambition. Kathy’s passion for all things beautiful broke through those boundaries and others, and she became an accomplished illustrator, painter, printmaker, and arts educator. Her work was shown at the Water Mill Museum along with many community art shows on Long Island, and her pieces hang in dozens of private collections.

After graduating from Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, Kathy began her art studies at Alfred University in upstate New York. She set aside her career ambitions for years while she married and raised a family, then completed her education at the School of Visual Arts, where she earned her MFA. She taught art history as an adjunct professor at Dowling College and Suffolk Community College before moving to Molloy College in Rockville Centre.

As an Associate Professor of Art and Director of International Education at Molloy, Kathy shared her exuberance for art and international travel with hundreds of students over more than a decade. Kathy helped design an interdisciplinary course of global studies and art appreciation; she not only brought art to the classroom, but she also brought students to the arts, organizing and leading regular trips abroad to develop a fuller appreciation for original works. Kathy’s dedication inspired a generation of young artists to expand their horizons, raise their sights, and achieve their own dreams.

In addition to being an artist Kathy was an avid gardener and accomplished cook, but above all she was a loving mother to her children and a much-loved “mom-mom” to her grandchildren. Her infectious laugh, outrageous hair, and larger-than-life personality generated an atmosphere of joy and love that enveloped her during her illness and helped ease her passage.

Kathy is predeceased by her brother, John Maher, sister Maureen Maher, and their parents, John and Veronica Maher of New Hyde Park, NY.