Sayville loses its ‘queen’ as Pamela Raymond, tireless champion of the hamlet, dies at 83

The community is mourning the woman many called the true heart of Sayville

Pamela “Pammy” Raymond, the soap opera actress turned civic force who spent four-plus decades helping reshape Sayville into the community it is today, died on Friday, Aug. 14, at her home in Sayville. She was 83.

Her death triggered a wave of grief across the hamlet, where Raymond was less a resident than an institution. She was a fixture at every parade, fundraiser and ribbon-cutting, donning a signature hat and wearing a wide smile.

“It is with great sadness and a broken heart that we announce the passing of somebody very dear in this town,” the Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce wrote in a Facebook post Saturday afternoon. “A person who has made Sayville what it is today.”

Raymond was born April 27, 1943, in Port Chester, the first of 10 children born to William V. Raymond, Sr. and Jean Fehrs Raymond, according to her family. Though she often quipped, tongue in cheek, that she was “an only child.”

Her career took her on- and off-Broadway, and eventually across the globe.

She moved to Australia, where she co-hosted a national talk show and appeared in series including “Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.” She lived in Lebanon, Greece and Holland, collecting experiences and tales she’d retell the rest of her life. Those stories, according to the Chamber, “kept us laughing.”

During her years abroad, Raymond met Reynold “Rennie” Church of Bronxville, who became the love of her life. His death in 1983 devastated her.

In its aftermath, Raymond confronted her own struggle with alcohol, joined Alcoholics Anonymous, and remained sober the rest of her life.

“If it’s good for Sayville, then I’m for it,” she was known to say — a motto that doubled as her life’s mission statement.

From there, her civic résumé grew and grew. She was a founding commissioner of Keep Islip Clean and a driving force behind the Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Sayville, the Sayville Food Pantry and Splashes of Hope.

With the Rotary, she nurtured the construction of what is now called the Pamela Raymond Performing Arts Pavilion at the Common Ground in Rotary Park.

She advocated for Main Street’s small businesses, championed the town’s parks, pushed for equality, and worked to feed and clothe those in need. She believed deeply in the arts, in education and in Sayville’s children.

In 2006, she was inducted into the Suffolk County Women’s Hall of Fame and a local publication crowned her the “Queen of Sayville” in 2012 for her relentless civic devotion.

For generations of Sayville residents, though, Raymond was the woman on the scooter — looking beautifully, dressed eclectically, and waving enthusiastically at every event she could find, the chamber said in its post.

Eileen Tyznar, president emeritus and administrator of the Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce, wrote Saturday’s tribute on behalf of the chamber. She called Raymond a mentor and a dear friend of more than 35 years.

“She instilled in me my love for our community, always telling me the best way to give back to people is through giving your service,” Tyznar wrote. “She taught me how to think outside of the box, as she often did, always with her innovative ideas and through her actions.”

Tributes have poured in from across the community this weekend.

Rita O’Brien remembered her as a “formidable advocate, volunteer and cheerleader in chief” who left her imprint on the town. Barbara Spare said simply that Raymond did more for Sayville “than anyone I have ever known.”

“Pam jumped out of bed every day with an idea in her head of how to promote her beloved Sayville,” Pamela Greene wrote in a comment on the chamber’s Facebook post. “Be it a bed race through downtown or a naked calendar, she was a force of positivity that is so rare in these times. Her talent for putting flair into everything she did will never be replicated.”

Wendy Ann commented that Raymond was “truly an angel on earth.”

Even in her final months, Raymond kept showing up. One of her last public appearances came at this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Bayport-Blue Point, where she climbed onto the back of a truck for the Sayville Chamber, waving and tossing gold coins, the Sayville Chamber wrote.

Raymond is survived by her siblings Jean Blaser, Kathy Nessen, Sherrill Given, Bill Raymond Jr., Corey Anger, Michael Raymond, Abby Crosby and John Raymond, along with nieces, nephews and godchildren.

Her family said in her obituary that Raymond’s ashes will be scattered over the dunes of Davis Park, the Fire Island getaway she cherished.

_{Top photos: Raynor-D’Andrea Funeral Homes and Facebook/The Sayville Common Ground at Rotary Park}