Ann Sauro, who helped organize the Throggs Neck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and sat on the 45th Precinct Community Council, passed away at the age of 82 on August 20.
Sauro lived in Throggs Neck since 1970, but originally hailed from Southern Boulevard. She was a teacher at St. Benedict’s School at 1016 Edison Avenue from 1970 to 2002.
A trained E.M.T., she volunteered her time aboard ambulances when cutbacks created long response times to emergencies in Throggs Neck.
“She was there during the initial formation of the volunteer ambulance company,” said her daughter, Ann Sauro – Haugh. “The response time was not good for city ambulances. She became a certified E.M.T. and rode in the TNVAC ambulances. She was also on the board of directors.”
Friend James McQuade remembers that Sauro was dedicated to the organization.
“She had over 10 years of service aboard the ambulance,” McQuade said. “She was one of the people who made the operations of the ambulance corps successful.”
Sauro also served on the parish advisory councils for both St. Benedict’s Church and St. Theresa’s Church. She volunteered in the R.C.I.A. program, which initiates adults into the Roman Catholic faith. She also spent a lot of time volunteering for the annual St. Theresa Feast.
“She was on the parish council at both St. Benedict’s and St. Theresa’s,” Sauro – Haugh said. “She was a very devout Catholic. In her mind there was no excuse to miss church.”
In addition to being a schoolteacher at St. Benedict’s, Sauro also taught part-time at St. Thomas Aquinas in the 1960s after working at Bell Systems for a number of years.
She graduated Mount St. Ursula Academy and Fordham University, where she received a B.S. in Communications. She taught math, Catholic religion and library.
“The idea that we should support the church not just monetarily, but with our time was passed down to her children and grandchildren,” Sauro–Haugh remembered. “My sister Joanne works at Preston and also volunteered there. My husband and I volunteer at the St. Theresa’s Feast.”
Sauro’s husband Joseph passed away in 1982. Her four daughters Ann, Jo-Ann Corsillo, Lisa Nolty, and Barbara Sauro survive her, as do sons-in-law Jimmy Nolty and Brendan Haugh.
She has five grandsons: Thomas, Michael, Mark, and Christopher Corsillo, and Joseph Haugh.
Sauro’s family wishes to thank all of those who have expressed their sympathy.
