The Westbury community remembered the legacy of Ann Sweat last week. The well-known community and education advocate passed away at her home April 24. She was 85 years old.
The joyful, service-oriented Westbury resident was involved in numerous organizations, doing anything she could to make her beloved community a better place. Sweat was an active member of the Central Westbury Civic Association, New Cassel/Westbury Health Community Center and NAACP, amongst other organizations.
Village mayor Peter Cavallaro described Sweat as the “conscience of the community” because she always said what was on her mind, while keeping the community’s best interests at heart.
“She always had her eye on how she could make Westbury better, but also highlight some of the success of Westbury and that the schools have had,” Cavallaro said. “She was proud of Westbury and was always very active and trying to get people motivated and working in the right direction.”
A few weeks ago, Sweat was reappointed as the chairwoman of the village’s zoning board, a job she’s had for the past eight years. It’s a role she handled very well, said Cavallaro.
“There are countless numbers of projects that go before the zoning board that are important to the residents applying. She handled every project as if it was important and tried to do her best for the community and residents involved, because she understood the importance of the project to the resident making that application,” Cavallaro said.
Cavallaro noted one project in particular where she showed exemplary leadership.
“The expansion for the Islamic center four or five years ago had the potential to be a very controversial project. We had people in the crowd who were very angry and against what they thought would be going on, and she handled it with a very diplomatic and firm reassuring matter,” Cavallaro remembers. “That whole process really became a very positive experience for the village and Islamic center and community.”
Dr. Faroque Khan, a member of the Islamic Center of Long Island’s Board of Trustees, said Sweat was also a huge help in establishing the mosque in the public sphere when they moved into the neighborhood in the 1980s. Through her, the center was able to develop programs for the school and community.
“She brought the community’s concerns to us and understood what we were doing and was a bridge as we were settling in that area,” Khan said. “She was committed to the welfare of the community. She wanted to make sure it was a safe, secure, clean neighborhood, and made every effort to make it happen.”
Sweat and her husband Mannie also played a huge role in the Westbury school system. She set up a scholarship in memory of her brother, Al Cannon, and for more than 10 years, Sweat awarded close to $10,000 each year to three to five Westbury seniors who were pursuing medical careers. She also helped initiate programs which helped provide students with experiences and internships at Nassau University Medical Center.
Over the years, Sweat received numerous recognitions from all levels of government in Nassau County, including induction into the Town of North Hempstead May W. Newburger Women’s Roll of Honor.
Sweat is survived by adopted daughter and caregiver Emma Wright, stepdaughters Patricia McLane and Letitia Sweat, and goddaughther Kim Figueroa. Services for Sweat were held last week.
