Nancy Cataldi, an outspoken preservationist who launched unrelenting efforts to save Richmond Hill's quaint downtown and Victorian homes, died last week at her home in Queens. She was 55.
The cause was a brain aneurysm and hemorrhage, said her half-brother, Michael.
Through nearly a decade as president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, Cataldi fought to maintain the charm of a neighborhood that was founded in 1867 and boasts elegant houses and churches.
In 2002, she capped a successful campaign to landmark the classical Richmond Hill Republican Club on Lefferts Blvd., which was built in 1908 and hosted Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
"If it had not been designated [a city landmark], it's an absolute that it would have been demolished," said Ivan Mrakovcic, who preceded Cataldi as the historical society's president.
Cataldi also led an ongoing push to turn Richmond Hill into a historic district, which would bar major renovations without city approval. Preservationists fear the movement may suffer without Cataldi in charge.
"No one wants to say, 'I can do a better job,' because no one could," said Carl Ballenas, a historian at the historical society.
Cataldi also ran events celebrating the history of Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, and curated the recently opened Italian-American Museum in Little Italy.
A photographer by trade, she worked for the New York Rangers hockey club in the 1980s and freelanced for major newspapers and magazines in recent years. She also volunteered for a Queens-based no-kill animal shelter, Bobbi and the Strays.
In August, Cataldi admitted she was devastated by changes to Richmond Hill - like the removal of marquee lettering from a 1929 RKO Keith's movie theater on Hillside Ave.
She also disturbed by the closing of a neighboring ice cream parlor named Jahn's and the destruction of a 1887 funeral home on Lefferts Blvd. where the society had housed its archives. "Everything historical down there is gone, almost," Cataldi lamented.
Her funeral is set for 10 a.m. tomorrow at Holy Child Jesus Church on 86th Ave. in Richmond Hill.
