Alice Hussie
Teacher, realtor, town councilor
1926 – 2021
Alice Joan Hussie, née Juergens, 94, of the Edgewood Retirement Community in North Andover, Mass., formerly of Southold, N.Y., and Hempstead, N.Y., died on June 11, 2021. Alice was a 1944 graduate of Hempstead High School. While still a high school student, she had already been teaching piano privately and attending the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music. In 1945 she attended New York University and earned her teaching degree.
She was married to Owen Hussie from 1948 to 1972. During their brief, early time in Texas, she sang in the Houston Choral. After their return to Long Island, N.Y., she taught music in the Hempstead schools, was elected president of the Uniondale, N.Y., Parent Teacher Association and, attending night classes, earned a Master of Science in education and a Certificate of Administration and Supervision from Hofstra University.
She retired from teaching in 1981 and moved to Southold. There she worked as a real estate agent and, in 1983, opened Alice Hussie Real Estate, which she operated for several years out of her Cutchogue, N.Y., office. In 1983 she became a member — then president — of the Riverhead/Southold League of Women Voters. She subsequently won election to the Southold Town Board, where she served from 1991 to 1999. In that time she earned the sobriquet “Trash Lady” for her years of work to reform Southold’s trash and recycling management.
Also during that time she volunteered at the Long Island Blood Bank, sang in the North Fork Chorale and was a member — then president — of the Southold Historical Society and a member of the Suffolk County Historical Society. Alice was also a trustee of Peconic Landing in Greenport, the creator and president of the Brecknock Hall Foundation and chair of the Brecknock Hall restoration in Greenport, N.Y. In addition, she was a key player in the creation of the Friends of the Old Bay View Schoolhouse in Southold and the subsequent relocation of that structure.
One of her typically ambitious projects was her 1990 conception, production and direction of “A Look at Entertainment,” which was part of Southold’s 350th anniversary celebration.
Alice enjoyed tennis, gardening, theme dinner parties, international travel and sailing. Despite being a non-swimmer, she bought a sailboat and would venture out into Peconic Bay single-handed. In 2012 she moved to Edgewood Retirement Community, where she was a designer and editor of the Edgewood Magazine.
She is survived by her son, Thomas Juergens, and his wife, Michelle, of Gloucester, Mass.; by her daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Stephen Holdtman of Falmouth, Maine; by their children, Emily and Alex; and by grandchildren Mary, Hannah, Tess, Caroline, and Ben. She is also survived by her brother, Albert Juergens of Fairfax, Va.
This is a paid notice.
