Dana Zebrowski of Bayville, skilled at baking and being 'cool,' has died

Bayville resident Dana Zebrowski could bake, summon her coding skills to create a video game and feel comfortable dyeing her blond hair two colors, such as neon green on one side and peach on the other.

"She was honestly one of the coolest people I have ever met," said Juliet Vivona, a best friend. "She knew she was cool; she was just shy about it."

Zebrowski revealed her personality only when she felt she was among friends, according to those who knew her. They described the several setbacks she faced for half her life, including her parents’ divorce, high school bullying and feeling lost after her college revamped her major, design of digital video games.

"An accomplishment for her was coming out of everything she went through and still being the kind person she was," her friend said. "She was the type who, despite everything, was never selfish, never mean."

Zebrowski, who most recently worked as a barista at a Hicksville Starbucks, died June 21. She was 27. The cause of death is pending, her family said.

She had been a determined and caring child, recalled her father, Edward Zebrowski of Bayville. When his daughter was 10, he said, she raised the family dog’s puppies so they could go to good homes, and always looked out for her younger brothers, even when she barely had the strength to carry them.

Dana Zebrowski pursued cello, guitar, dance, softball and school work with a "hardheaded" focus that her father admired: "Once she put her mind to do something, she wanted to do it and do it right," he said. "Her grades were phenomenal and every teacher loved her."

One favorite memory is their first fishing trip, when, her father recalled, he taught her to avoid waste by releasing whatever they caught — unless she was going to eat it.

"When she caught her first fish, she had to keep this fish and have this fish for dinner," he said. "She watched me clean it and she watched me cook it up. She ate the whole thing.

"At that point in her life, she always, always had to be by my side. She was daddy’s girl."

But when she was about 11, he and his wife divorced, Edward Zebrowski said, adding that a judge years later gave his ex-wife custody of their daughter. Zebrowski got custody of their sons.

By the time his daughter was in high school, Zebrowski said, their relationship was almost nonexistent.

"I always thought we had time to get back with her."

Dana Zebrowski was recently pursuing some of the same interests she had growing up, such as music and plenty of concerts, but her career goal was creating digital video games, her escape pastime. After learning some coding in her first year at Long Island University, she made a game that required the player to shoot down balls that continuously broke into smaller bits, all of which had to also be shot down, her friend said.

Every year, the two friends got tattoos at a tattoo convention in Manhattan, with Zebrowski choosing several small cutesy ones, including a ghost holding a pumpkin, and an artsy one of a lion and a sword.

"It helped with body confidence," Vivona said. "It gave her a sense of self."

Zebrowski seemed self conscious about being perceived as awkward, whether it was dancing to music in a bar or talking to people she didn’t know well, her friend said.

"She trusted me and I really got to see her let go and be free," Vivona said. "I really saw her personality come through, the way she could just make people laugh and bring joy to a room."

Besides her father, Dana Zebrowski is also survived by mother, Lee Ann Zebrowski, of Bayville, and her brothers, Edward ,of Oyster Bay, and Alex, of Bayville.

A funeral service was held June 25 at the Whitting Funeral Home in Glen Head, followed by cremation.