By Carol P. Bartold     

Nov. 16, 2016: Count every service year that Bronxville resident Anna Longobardo has given to various village committees, Mayor Mary Marvin pointed out, and she has probably given 50 years of volunteer service to the community. 

The Bronxville Board of Trustees, at its November 14 meeting, honored Longobardo on her retirement from service on village boards. 

"We asked Anna to come tonight because her service has been incredible to this village," Marvin said. "It has been long, and distinguished, and varied." 

Longobardo, retiring this year from the Bronxville Planning Board, began lending her talents to the village in the mid-1990s when she chaired a special committee charged with formulating a central business district plan. She joined the design review committee of the planning board in 1992 and served on the committee until 2011. She chaired the group for seventeen years of her nineteen-year tenure. 

Longobardo became a member of the planning board in 1994 and retired this year. For twelve of her twenty-two years on the board she was vice chair. 

"We should all serve at the local level," Marvin said in commending Longobardo for her dedication to the community. "You served with such grace, such civility, and such intelligence." Marvin added that she considers Longobardo a role model for women in government. 

Deputy Mayor Robert Underhill, away on business, sent his thanks to Longobardo for her commitment to Bronxville. "You have made the most of your talents," he wrote in a note, "and you have loved and nurtured your community. Furthermore, you have accomplished all of this with tremendous grace." 

Trustee Anne W. Poorman, also unable to attend the meeting, sent a message describing Longobardo as an inspiring woman who has demonstrated the power of brains, community involvement, and grace. 

"When someone has displayed insight, tremendous judgment, dedication, intelligence, and a great commitment," noted trustee Randy Mayer, "working alongside that person, even if only for a brief time, is an inspiration." 

"Anna is tenacious in her beliefs and in espousing those beliefs in what I consider a gracious manner," said planning board chair Gary Reetz. 

Longobardo's son, trustee Guy Longobardo, pointed out that his mother began her service to the village when she was working and when she held seats on boards in other constituencies. "Whatever the constituency," he said, "she devoted herself to all of them." He credited his mother with instilling in him the value of serving the community. 

Asked to say a few words, Anna Longobardo expressed her thanks for opportunities to give back to the community some of the benefits that she felt and that her family was receiving. "I tried to do my bit," she said, and "I enjoyed doing it, and I feel honored today."

Pictured here (L to R):  Anna Longobardo and Mayor Mary Marvin.

Photo by Carol P. Bartold