We are saddened to learn of the passing of Kathleen Frances (Toale) Ferrara on February 19, 2026 at age 83.
Kathleen served many years as the popular secretary for the athletic department at Sayville High School.
During this very challenging time, our hearts go out to her family, friends, colleagues and the many students whose lives she touched.
A beautiful obituary was published by our friends at Raynor and D’Andrea Funeral Homes, which is copied here for your convenience. There is also a photo-based video there, available for your viewing on-line.
Kathleen “Kathy” Ferrara was born on October 7, 1942, at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan to her parents, Mary Francis and Jarvis Toale. She spent her childhood in Queens, surrounded by her cousins, Maureen and Diane, and her beloved grandmother, “Gamma.” After high school, Kathy began her career as a secretary at Union Carbide. She often claimed to enjoy playing guitar in Washington Square Park—though, notably, no members of her family ever saw evidence of this particular talent.
Indisputably, however, Kathy was a wonderful cook and entertainer. She loved throwing parties with her husband, Andy, whom she met and married in 1968. The couple moved to Sayville in 1970, where they soon grew their family by adopting Janene and Joseph. Kathy served as the secretary for the athletic department at Sayville High School, where she was affectionately known as “the pretty lady by the gym” who always had a spare rubber band or a piece of candy for a student in need.
While no one wants their life to be defined by illness, those living with chronic disease know that choice isn’t always theirs. Kathy’s life was defined by her relentless spirit. She fought every diagnosis with vigor and a smile, from a precancerous condition in her twenties and Lupus in her thirties to a series of complex autoimmune diseases and B-cell lymphoma (which she beat twice). Despite years of unrelenting neuropathic pain, she never stopped moving. Aerobics and step classes eventually gave way to yoga and physical therapy; radiation, immunotherapies, monthly infusions, surgeries, and clinical trials were all met with a determination to do “whatever the doctors ordered.”
She managed it all while remaining effortlessly beautiful. Like her husband, Kathy loved being surrounded by animals—whether they were ducks, birds, or her favorite: dogs. She leaves behind her children, as well as nieces and nephews (both related and chosen) who remained by her side until the end. She also leaves behind her “grand dog,” Lena, who—despite weighing 45 pounds—shared Kathy’s firm belief that she was a lap dog.
Family received visitors on Tuesday, February 24th from 4 – 8 p.m. at Raynor & D’Andrea 245 Montauk Highway West Sayville. A committal service took place at the funeral home at 11:30 a.m. Interment in the cemetery was private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Smiles from Sarah.
A memorial page has been created in Kathy’s honor, and the Sayville Alumni Association will remember her annually on her birthday, October 7th. We hope this remembrance will provide solace for those who knew and loved Kathy.
