Gloria Adler & Brian O'Keefe .

Brian J. O’Keefe died on December 20,2020 from complications of his initial diagnosis of colon cancer on December 14, 2017.  He is survived by his wife and soulmate, Esther Adler-O’Keefe, the children Esther and he helped raise, Quincy, Penelope and Julianna and his sons from a previous marriage, Ryan and Brandon.  He also left behind a loving mother, brother, many family members and friends.  He always left an impression on people as a kind and caring individual.

Brian was a former golf pro and started his career at the Brentwood Country Club as a caddy.  He eventually became the golf pro at Montauk Downs, one of his favorite places to vacation, (second only to Key West )and Rock Hill County Club where he and Esther married.

Brian also worked at a glass company and then for Cool Power, an HVAC company where his co-workers, who many became friends and customers embraced his kindness, generosity and work ethic.

When he retired on his birthday July 7th, 2017 he decided to work part time at Home Depot because he enjoyed helping people and his co-workers there became his friends, as well.

Brian doted on his favorite rescue dog, Riley, who crossed when she was just shy of 10.  Eventually, their rescue, Sandee needed a companion and on Brian’s bucket list was to have a golden retriever named Divot.  Divot had only a few months with Brian, but they bonded and you can see from the pictures how much they all loved one another.

Brian had several opportunities to play on prestigious golf courses throughout the country and treasured every experience.  Although he never made it to Ireland and Scotland as he hoped, he lived a life that will always keep him in our hearts.

Gloria Adler

Gloria Adler died on April 24, 2022, of complications from vascular dementia.  She was 83 years old.

Gloria is survived by her children, Esther, of Manorville, NY, David of Houston, Texas and William of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Her beloved son Gary died in 1986.  She was their greatest cheerleader and always encouraged each to follow their hearts to happiness, regardless of the route.

Gloria had nine grandchildren who she loved very much-Quincy, Penelope, Julianna, Joel, Erica, Ilan, Shoshana, Shira and Talia.  She also had one great grandchild, Noa.  She  loved her nephews, Saul and Eric, Jeremy and Rebecca and her cousins, Eileen and Marsha as well as many other family and friends.

Gloria was a proud and hardcore New Yorker.  She was never comfortable in places that had “too much greenery”.  She and her brother Freddy, were raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan by their father, Sam and their mother, Esther/Ella Fischer.  Her stepmother, Dora Wertzer later played a role in raising Gloria also.  Gloria proposed marriage to her eventual husband, Marvin, when she was only 19 years old.  They were married for 34 years.

Gloria was a strong feminist and anti-war protester.  She even insisted on taking her infant children to protests.  Around 1974, Gloria decided she had enough of watching daytime tv, so she went on a diet (eventually losing almost 90 pounds), got a job at the SUNY Stony Brook bookstore, and ran for a seat on the Middle Country Central School District Board of Education.  She was re-elected several times and also served as Board President. One of her proudest achievements was ensuring that the budget for arts and music education was treated no differently than the budget for athletics.  Gloria was always gratified to have the support of the teachers in her campaigns. At Stony Brook, Gloria-along with her partner in troublemaking, Cornelia Quirk-helped lead the ultimately successful effort to unionize the store employees.

Gloria was passionate about social justice in general and the inequalities in the criminal justice system in particular.   She had an extreme dislike for loudmouth, incompetent, sexist, racist and otherwise ignorant politicians.  Glora could be difficult, but her love for her family could never be questioned.  She disdained formalities and always cut her own path through the forest.  Gloria would not want anyone to mourn her death for long but would instead want all who knew her to enjoy life to the fullest.