It was a packed house on Thursday, July 6, where a local standout was rightfully celebrated for decades of community service.
Having served in the Peace Corps, as Islip Town Clerk, as a member of the Holbrook Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, as president of the Holbrook Lions Club, and as president and a longtime board member of the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce, Fern Coste Spies has long-been a pillar of the neighborhood, through and through.
Born and raised in Holbrook and raised there as well, her family is considered one of the original Holbrook and Sachem families, and whom still call the area their loyal home. Her father started Coste Insurance Agency, which is still on Main Street to this day.
A business owner in her own right, known for her travel agency business ran out of, you guessed it, Holbrook, Spies has sent many on their getaway “trip of a lifetime.” Yet, with her infectious smile and overall energy, she is all the evidence you’d need as to why many Holbrookians like herself typically do not stray far from home for too long.
“A community is a lot of things, we have roads and parks, homes and businesses – but what a community really is defined by are the people that make them so special,” Assemblyman Doug Smith spoke in his deliverance of the State Assembly’s proclamation in Spies’ honor on Thursday. “As a first-generation Sachem and Holbrook resident, I’m proud to call this community my home and proud to raise my daughter here because of the dedication of people like Fern Spies. She is someone I consider a personal friend, but also a community leader who has spent decades serving the people of Holbrook and making our lives better.”
Smith recalls that after the town’s “hero son” Alexander DiGuardia died in combat in Vietnam, then- Congressman Otis Pike called upon Fern Spies and asked her to deliver the heart-wrenching news to the DiGuardia Family.
“When I was 12,” he adds, “I volunteered to help out at the Holbrook Carnival, which Fern was influential in starting; when my wife and I went on our honeymoon, Fern Spies and her husband George planned our trip and knew all the great spots in St. Lucia and who to talk to for food and entertainment.”
Dating all the way back to the May 12, 1960-published issue of The Suffolk County News, wherein Sachem High School announced a teenaged Coste as one of several esteemed honor roll students for that school year, on through to her latest accomplishment in a lifetime of many, no one has encountered anyone more modest in her excellency.
“What Fern has been able to accomplish in several years of serving her community is a testament to how you can bring the whole world to your backyard, and vice versa,” Smith told The Messenger. “Fern has left an indelible mark on our community, and it is an honor to recognize her many decades of outstanding community service!”
Congratulations to the former town clerk and consummately revered local resident for earning recognition that could go without saying, but we’re nonetheless proud to— especially when it’s in support of someone as impactful as the great Fern Coste Spies.
