By Ellyn Okvist, B.Sc.
May Miller Duffield (May 24, 1896-February 15, 1982) was a Charter member of the Lake Ronkonkoma Equal Rights Suffrage Club 1912, appropriate to highlight this March as it is Women’s History Month.
She married Raymond Duffield, and their marriage was a strong partnership that lasted more than fifty years. Their only child was a daughter, Norma Duffield Scarazzo (1926-2022).
May Duffield was ahead of her time. Her women’s business sense developed at an early age, and her careful planning and thoughts for the customer is what may have made her such a leader. Purchasing, developing, and running her Pavilion at Ronkonkoma Lake was a lifetime success.
She owned and operated the Duffield West Park Beach on Ronkonkoma Lake during the halcyon days of busy tourism. She was the sole owner of the Pavilion, and her community sense was enjoyed by so many from 1922 to 1969. Her story is a very unusual accomplishment for a woman in that time. With her husband Raymond by her side, there was no limit to living life to the fullest. She had landmark ideas for the business and constructed the pavilion on her property in 1922. Numerous activities were offered, and the parking field could accommodate 400 cars and buses. The guests would enter from Rosevale Avenue on the west side of the lake, the Islip side. Her weekend specials were offering hot meals to the lake visitors, and 100 to 200 of these delicious hot meals were sold daily.
Like many beaches at the time, Duffield’s had two large slides, 20 rowboats, a waterwheel, a diving platform and a motorboat used for sightseeing (pictured below). (Motorboats were banned from the lake by 1934). There were several tennis courts and playground equipment, such as slides and seesaws.
Duffield’s had one of the largest picnic grounds on the lake. It would be almost impossible to list every event held at Duffield’s over the years, but we can include our American Legion, Girl Scout meetings, rallies and leaders’ meetings, church outings, Lake Ronkonkoma Homemakers, Southside Hospital Auxiliary, blood drives during WWII, Lake Ronkonkoma School Field Days, and birthdays of local children. To read the guest list brings us back in time, as you will see familiar names that are still around today.
She sold the pavilion to the Town of Islip. During the 1970s, the pavilion was demolished, and new facilities were assembled on the site. During the 1980s, Ronkonkoma Town Beach remained the go-to place for picnics, swimming and outdoor activities.
Her business sense did not stop at the lake. During the high season in Lake Ronkonkoma, she would move into the cottage next to her home on Hawkins Avenue and rent out her home to boarders. She also established a laundromat in the cottage and took in laundry from whoever asked to be a customer.
Socially, May was involved in many areas. In the early 1900s, as a charter member of “The Philespersons,” was active on the local women’s basketball team and was the only married member. She loved sports and continued actively biking and bowling throughout her life. As a young woman, she had been keenly interested in playing baseball, but an accident, resulting in the loss of a finger from her left hand, ended her playing. Her interest never faltered, and she was a devoted Dodgers fan, sitting with a scorecard on her lap as she watched the games. With a true devotion to Girl Scouts, she led generations of young Girl Scouts and was honored for forty years of service. Her passion was ice skating on “her” lake, and in later years she would pull her car onto the ramp and ice skate while Ray would watch her.
May submitted her Application for Membership in the American Legion Auxiliary (pictured above) at the local William Merritt Hallock Post #155 and became a charter member of the Ladies Auxiliary. Her membership was confirmed as Raymond, her husband, was a Veteran of WWII. One can confirm the absence of May’s standing as a woman on the application, which still required to be recognized under a married husbands name.
But since this is Women’s History Month, let’s talk suffrage! Long Island and New York were a huge center for the suffrage crusade, and May Duffield was a confirmed leader. Rosalie Gardiner Jones, Edna Buchman Kearns, and Irene Davidson were regulars in Lake Ronkonkoma as the Lake Ronkonkoma Equal Rights Suffrage Club grew stronger. May recalled speaking on a soap box at the Riverhead Suffrage Rallies, during her militant Lake Ronkonkoma Equal Rights Suffrage Club days. Her daughter, Norma, recalls her mother firmly advising her to vote, saying, “Follow through on what I fought so hard to get.” May Duffield, the suffragette, stressed voting, not political party.
Norma, who was the only child of May and Raymond, and I shared personal conversations which were always educational. Her thoughts of her mother attending rallies and speaking never left her memory. Norma shared the memories of the love her parents shared. The family moved to Pennsylvania in 1969 after the sale of the pavilion, and it was there that May passed peacefully on February 15, 1982. She is Interred at the St. Lawrence Cemetery in Sayville.
Lake Ronkonkoma had many huge influences for suffrage, another being Lillian Browne Devere who we will see highlighted in my column next week, and others the week after that. When do we see such powerful women in one community, all adding to what we enjoy today? I ask that if anyone has further information on other suffragist women in Lake Ronkonkoma, please contact me.
