By Howard Koplowitz
Nancy Cataldi, the president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society and the historian for Maple Grove Cemetery who fought to get the neighborhood landmarked, died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage Thursday night, her boyfriend said. She was 55.
“She was the most caring, thoughtful person. She was always there for you,” said Steve Palow, Cataldi’s boyfriend. “She was beyond beautiful. If there was a saint on earth, she was a saint.”
As the president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, Cataldi pushed for the preservation of the neighborhood’s Victorian homes, waging an unsuccessful fight with the city Landmarks Preservation Commission.
She did extensive renovations to her 1905 Victorian, which she purchased in 1994, by outfitting rooms with furniture that reflected the time period and installing a tin ceiling.
“She wallpapered every room,” Palow said. “She restored it and brought it to life.”
Cataldi was a graduate of Richmond Hill High School and the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she studied photography. Soon after her college graduation, Cataldi became a stylist, doing studio work for a women’s catalog, her boyfriend said. She later became a hockey photographer.
Cataldi was also the historian for Maple Grove Cemtery, where she put together a program called Spirits Alive! that featured actors and volunteers dressing up as historical figures and telling their stories.
