Division 343 mourns member

By SHERRY HALBROOK
Less than a month after her 63rd birthday, PEF member Cynthia Lorr collapsed on the job at Greene Correctional Facility in Coxsackie and later died.

A psychologist 2, Lorr was meeting with an inmate Friday evening, November 30th when she collapsed. She was sent to the hospital by ambulance, but did not survive.

Although it was not necessary to use a defibrillator to stop and restart Lorr’s heart at the prison, PEF Division 343 Council Leader Sharon Brin said the tragedy has made everyone more aware of the need to prepare for such emergencies.

“Out of this tragedy, we will all be better informed,” Brin said.

According to Executive Board member Mike Sicko, additional automated external defibrillators are being installed throughout Greene and should be ready by February.

“Even if they only save one person, it’s well worth it,” Sicko said.

A Louisiana native, Lorr had worked for New York state since 1989. She had worked as a counselor before coming to work at Greene in 1995 as a psychologist where she worked a mixed shift. She had just begun the evening shift when she was stricken.

“It was very sudden. In fact, it’s hard to believe she’s gone,” said Leo Pusatere, a special education teacher, a friend and fellow member of PEF Division 343. “Cindy was the type of woman you thought would never die. I thought she would outlive me.”

“She was fun-loving, enjoyed going out to eat and was never one to turn down a party,” Pusatere said.

“She knew her job and really liked it,” he said. “She was very concerned for the inmates and chaired the program on violence and aggression. She was very independent and wasn’t afraid to grab the bull by the horns. She would go to bat for you and could be very outspoken.”

An avid breeder of standard schnauzers, Lorr loved to show them in competitions. She was a well known judge at dog shows and had authored a chapter in a book on schnauzers.

Lorr had no family in the Red Hook area where she lived, according to Brin, only a sister in Georgia and a brother in California.

“Cindy had three big things in her life — her job, her pets and her Quaker faith,” Pusatere said. “She really wasn’t interested in retirement. She often said she would die at her desk.”

The Communicator Feb. 2007

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