Longtime community volunteer and Brightwaters resident Anne Marie "Nana" Kjeldsen died after a short illness July 31, 2008 in Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, one of the places she volunteered. She was 86.

Although she had traveled to every continent, she spent her time helping her own hometown communities of Brightwaters and Bay Shore. For 45 years she volunteered for the Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip and was a familiar fixture at the main reception desk. She was also an active supporter at the Hospitality Center at St. Patrick's R.C. Church in Bay Shore and numerous civic associations in Islip and Babylon Town.

Born in Chicago to Eunice and John B. Noone, she grew up in Douglaston, New York. During World War II she lived in Norfolk, Virginia with her Naval officer husband, Norman. The couple had five children and in 1959 they moved to Woodland Drive in Brightwaters where they lived for more than 35 years. For the last seven years, she lived at the Admiralty condominiums.

According to her family, she was instrumental in the reopening of Virginia public schools in 1959 when the state refused to integrate the displaced students, defying a Supreme Court order. An avid reader and follower of politics, she also spoke fluent French and attended monthly lectures at the Foreign Policy Institute of Manhattan.

Mrs. Kjeldsen leaves behind her children, Mary Lou Cohalan of Bayport, Susan Roos of Brooklyn Heights, Robert and his wife Barbara of Babylon and David and his wife Deborah of West Islip. Fourteen grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren also survive her as do her siblings: Dorothy Kelly of Douglaston and Robert Noone of Queens; her daughter-in-law Ingrid of East Islip and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her son, Peter and her husband of 61 years, Norman.

She reposed at the Frederick J. Chapey Funeral Home in West Islip on August 2, 2008 followed by burial in Oakwood cemetery in Bay Shore.

Donations in Mrs. Kjeldsen's name can be sent to the Good Samaritan Hospital, 1000 Montauk Highway, West Islip, New York 11795.