Dolores Strong, marina matriarch, dies at 86

“She was a nice mixture of giving you a hug when you needed a hug, and kicking your butt when you needed to be kicked in the butt.”

That’s how Dolores Strong’s children, Jeffery and Nancy, summarize their mother, which is a hard thing to do in so few words. Strong, of Mattituck, died on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at age 86. 

“Dottie” was born on Jan. 9, 1939, in Floral Park. She met a boy named Dave while in high school in Babylon, and the two sweethearts weren’t just that. They married in 1956, right after graduation, and moved to Mattituck nine years later, where they planted their roots. That year, they purchased a marina off Camp Mineola Road and started the well-known Strong’s Marine. Dave died in May 2001.

The whole family would go on to work there, doing all sorts of different tasks to keep the business going. Jeffery and Nancy remember those times. They practically grew up at the marina, they said. Spending a lot of their years there as they got older, Mr. Strong said he equates it somewhat to being farmers, in that they all learned a tremendous amount of things, including what to do and what not to do.

David was more of the outside guy, while Dolores was more the inside person, bookkeeping and accounting for myriad details that you need to keep track of while running a business. While it was a family business, employees who weren’t in the family still felt like they were, and benefited from the shared life lessons.

“Running a small business, you have a good amount of employees, and she really took a lot of those employees who needed or wanted it that maybe didn’t have somebody in their life that was as impactful as my mom could have been,” Mr. Strong said. “She definitely impacted a lot of people that way, too, who we still hear from, which is really cool.”

She was a driving force in the community outside of the business as well. An active boater, fisher, golfer and traveler, she was always busy. Ms. Strong, her daughter, said her mom was also involved in the Mattituck Lioness Club and the local 4-H club for a few years. The club — whose four “h’s” are head, heart, hands and health — is a nonprofit youth development program that helps to develop problem-solving skills. 

Being an avid traveler, family vacations were a must. Summers were busy, obviously, so the Strong family would make most of their trips in the wintertime. Sometimes, they would go skiing; other times, they would visit more tropical locations. No matter where they were, they always made lasting memories. 

“Just taking the time to relax together was nice,” Ms. Strong said. “One of my favorite family trips, as kids, was when we would tow a boat. They would take us out of school back then for a month, and we would go to the Bahia Honda State Park in the [Florida] Keys through Christmas and New Year’s.”

Their mother’s work ethic on the business side was evident, seen by people on the outside, too. She encouraged her employees to not just make a difference at work, but to follow her lead and make a difference in the surrounding communities as well. She also made a point to work hard at maintaining her personal relationships. 

“On the friends’ side of things, my mom was always very involved in wanting to know the details of what was going on in people’s lives, which people appreciated, whether it was in person or on the phone,” Mr. Strong said. “She was very interested in how she could possibly help them, whatever the case might be.”

Those sides of her weren’t secrets. Her care and dedication were also expressed in some lesser-known ways, too. One of those was her gardening, and, more specifically, her flowers. She always maintained a beautiful garden and even helped the Mattituck Chamber of Commerce plant and upkeep theirs as well. 

She treated her flowers like she treated everyone else in her life: with full attention and respect. Time was dedicated specifically to the flowers, usually at night, when it was just about them.

“She would go out there literally every night, whether it be weeding or adding some Miracle-Gro,” Mr. Strong said. “But she would talk to her flowers like she talked to kids. She always felt like talking to the flowers, [which] is why she had such great flowers. It was pretty cool.”

No matter who knew her or how little they interacted, her presence was felt. She was all business, but she was a lot of fun, too. Her vanity license plate even said “4Fun2.”

“It’s amazing, and it makes me feel grateful to be able to share a person’s nurturing skills like that,” Ms. Strong said of the feedback she’s heard from others. “It’s sad that it doesn’t come out until after they’re gone, but it’s very soothing and nice to hear.”