Sondra Bachety, trailblazing official in Suffolk County politics, dies at 93
Sondra Bachety was the first woman elected to the Babylon Town Board in 1967. Credit: Bachety Family
As the first elected woman in the Town of Babylon in the late 1960s, Sondra Bachety served under the title "councilman."
Only years later did it become the norm to refer to her as a "councilperson" or "councilwoman," a minor example of the many hurdles she had to overcome as a trailblazing official in Suffolk County politics.
Her election to the Babylon Town Board in 1967, breaking through a Republican stronghold to win as a Democrat with Conservative backing, began a decades-long political career that included becoming the first woman to serve as presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature.
Bachety, who died Thursday morning at age 93, was remembered by family and lawmakers as a strong-willed official who earned respect across party lines with honesty and trustworthiness, and as a staunch advocate for parkland and open space preservation.
Her son Michael Bachety, of Washington, said his mother, who most recently lived in West Islip, was a "voice for the voiceless."
She served on the Babylon Town Board from 1968-1979, persevering through sexism prevalent to that era and pushing back against zoning decisions she felt hurt the community, and then spent a decade on the Suffolk County Legislature from 1983-1993. She later served as a Democratic Party leader in Babylon and was director of the Babylon Industrial Development Agency.
In a 2009 interview as part of a Town of Babylon Oral History Project, Bachety recalled how the expectation when first elected was "to smile and be agreeable."
She had a different view of the job.
"I wasn’t as pliable as everybody wanted me to be," she'd said.
Patrick Halpin, the former legislator and Suffolk County executive who helped nudge Bachety to run for an open legislature seat, remembered her as "incorruptible."
"If she said she was going to do something, she did it," he said.
Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, who described Bachety as a mentor and a key influence in his own political career, said the town's parks and recreation department could be traced back to the work Bachety did. A pavilion at Overlook Beach bears her name.
Born March 28, 1932, in Queens, Bachety developed an early interest in politics while growing up in a home where her civic-minded parents idolized President Franklin D. Roosevelt, her son said.
She carried flyers in support of Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, who ran unsuccessfully in 1952 and 1956, she recalled in the Oral History Project interview.
She married Francis Xavier Bachety, who served in the Marines, and the couple, with two young children in tow, moved east in 1957 to Deer Park where they could afford to buy a home. They raised their five children in Deer Park where she was an active member of Saints Cyril and Methodius Church. She and Francis Bachety separated in the 1980s and she married Stephen Feig in 1990.
A self-described " '50s housewife," Bachety was an avid reader who helped launch the creation of the Deer Park Library so her children could easily access books. She helped form the Public Library Committee around 1963 and residents voted to construct the library a year later. Bachety served on the board of trustees for a decade.
A chance encounter at a Pathmark, when Bachety recalled a man inquiring if she’d be interested in running for office, helped nudge her to run, she once said. The Democratic Party needed candidates, the man had said to her. She thought it was a joke.
She ran on a ticket with the backing of the Democratic and Conservative parties and two other candidates, Joseph Stabile and Frank Schaeffer, for a Town of Babylon council seat, and much to her surprise, the trio won.
"It was a shock," she said in 2009.
In an interview on Friday, Legis. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket), who first served as a legislator from 1984-92, recalled Bachety as a "pioneer" whose service was a "model for those who followed."
Bachety and Englebright were famously linked in 1988 when she smacked the fellow legislator with her purse in a closed-door caucus meeting, Newsday reported at the time. Englebright had reportedly changed his vote at first, denying Bachety the leadership position. He reversed course the next week.
A gift she received from friends and supporters after assuming the new role included a purse — with a brick inside.
Englebright remembered it as a "humorous" incident that never affected their ability to work together.
Steve Levy, who served as a legislator from 1986-2000, recalled Bachety as someone who "bled Democratic blue."
"If Sondra was on your team, you wanted her in your foxhole," he told Newsday in a text message. "If she was on the other side, you knew you were up against a fierce fighter for her cause."
Bachety was predeceased by her first husband in 2011, her second husband in 2005 and her brother Steven Michael Martin in 2021. She is survived by her sister Ursula Lulley, her five children, Frank Bachety of Babylon, John Bachety of Florida, Daniel Bachety of West Islip, Catherine Salatto of West Islip and Michael Bachety of Washington, as well as 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. on Sunday at Claude R. Boyd-Caratozzolo Funeral Home in Deer Park. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday at 10:15 a.m. at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church in Deer Park.
As the first elected woman in the Town of Babylon in the late 1960s, Sondra Bachety served under the title "councilman."
Only years later did it become the norm to refer to her as a "councilperson" or "councilwoman," a minor example of the many hurdles she had to overcome as a trailblazing official in Suffolk County politics.
Her election to the Babylon Town Board in 1967, breaking through a Republican stronghold to win as a Democrat with Conservative backing, began a decades-long political career that included becoming the first woman to serve as presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature.
Bachety, who died Thursday morning at age 93, was remembered by family and lawmakers as a strong-willed official who earned respect across party lines with honesty and trustworthiness, and as a staunch advocate for parkland and open space preservation.
Her son Michael Bachety, of Washington, said his mother, who most recently lived in West Islip, was a "voice for the voiceless."
She served on the Babylon Town Board from 1968-1979, persevering through sexism prevalent to that era and pushing back against zoning decisions she felt hurt the community, and then spent a decade on the Suffolk County Legislature from 1983-1993. She later served as a Democratic Party leader in Babylon and was director of the Babylon Industrial Development Agency.
In a 2009 interview as part of a Town of Babylon Oral History Project, Bachety recalled how the expectation when first elected was "to smile and be agreeable."
She had a different view of the job.
"I wasn’t as pliable as everybody wanted me to be," she'd said.
Patrick Halpin, the former legislator and Suffolk County executive who helped nudge Bachety to run for an open legislature seat, remembered her as "incorruptible."
"If she said she was going to do something, she did it," he said.
Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, who described Bachety as a mentor and a key influence in his own political career, said the town's parks and recreation department could be traced back to the work Bachety did. A pavilion at Overlook Beach bears her name.
A ' '50s housewife'
Born March 28, 1932, in Queens, Bachety developed an early interest in politics while growing up in a home where her civic-minded parents idolized President Franklin D. Roosevelt, her son said.
She carried flyers in support of Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, who ran unsuccessfully in 1952 and 1956, she recalled in the Oral History Project interview.
She married Francis Xavier Bachety, who served in the Marines, and the couple, with two young children in tow, moved east in 1957 to Deer Park where they could afford to buy a home. They raised their five children in Deer Park where she was an active member of Saints Cyril and Methodius Church. She and Francis Bachety separated in the 1980s and she married Stephen Feig in 1990.
A self-described " '50s housewife," Bachety was an avid reader who helped launch the creation of the Deer Park Library so her children could easily access books. She helped form the Public Library Committee around 1963 and residents voted to construct the library a year later. Bachety served on the board of trustees for a decade.
A chance encounter at a Pathmark, when Bachety recalled a man inquiring if she’d be interested in running for office, helped nudge her to run, she once said. The Democratic Party needed candidates, the man had said to her. She thought it was a joke.
She ran on a ticket with the backing of the Democratic and Conservative parties and two other candidates, Joseph Stabile and Frank Schaeffer, for a Town of Babylon council seat, and much to her surprise, the trio won.
"It was a shock," she said in 2009.
Pioneer in politics
In an interview on Friday, Legis. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket), who first served as a legislator from 1984-92, recalled Bachety as a "pioneer" whose service was a "model for those who followed."
Bachety and Englebright were famously linked in 1988 when she smacked the fellow legislator with her purse in a closed-door caucus meeting, Newsday reported at the time. Englebright had reportedly changed his vote at first, denying Bachety the leadership position. He reversed course the next week.
A gift she received from friends and supporters after assuming the new role included a purse — with a brick inside.
Englebright remembered it as a "humorous" incident that never affected their ability to work together.
Steve Levy, who served as a legislator from 1986-2000, recalled Bachety as someone who "bled Democratic blue."
"If Sondra was on your team, you wanted her in your foxhole," he told Newsday in a text message. "If she was on the other side, you knew you were up against a fierce fighter for her cause."
Bachety was predeceased by her first husband in 2011, her second husband in 2005 and her brother Steven Michael Martin in 2021. She is survived by her sister Ursula Lulley, her five children, Frank Bachety of Babylon, John Bachety of Florida, Daniel Bachety of West Islip, Catherine Salatto of West Islip and Michael Bachety of Washington, as well as 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. on Sunday at Claude R. Boyd-Caratozzolo Funeral Home in Deer Park. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday at 10:15 a.m. at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church in Deer Park.
