Residents of Walden mourn the loss of their most beloved citizen: Anita Vandermark, a long-time Waldenite who passed away at 92 years old on Saturday, June 22 at the Garnet Health Medical Center. For nearly her entire life, Vandermark dedicated herself to serving the village and county however possible, whether through fundraising, assisting the elderly, volunteering for community events, or writing her columns.

Vandermark was born on July 16, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York, and raised by the late Leonard Portuondo and Natalia. She and her siblings, Lenny Portuondo and the late Gladys Harley, grew up in the Hamlet of Wallkill after her parents moved from the city. Vandermark was especially protective of her brother, who was 15 years younger, and she acted as a third parent to him, looking after him and taking him on every vacation.

“She always referred to me as ‘baby brother.’ She looked over and protected me when our parents were away,” Lenny said. “Anita and Doug (Vandermark’s husband) would take me everywhere like I was their son. She was more than just a sister, she was like a mother, and we stayed very close.”

Vandermark graduated from Wallkill High School in 1948 and married the late Douglas E. Vandermark; the two moved to the Village of Walden, where she had her daughter Sandy Magill. During the 1980s and ‘90s, she served as a confidential secretary to John Mazzeo and Elaine Slobod, former judges of the Orange County Court System.

In Walden, Vandermark’s influence could be felt in every corner and crevice of the village through her decades of volunteer work. She served as chairperson for the ethics board, collaborating with fellow members to ensure the best possible government. She welcomed new residents through the Walden Sunshine Society, raised money for the Historical Society’s Jacob T. Walden House, and engaged in nearly every community event through the Walden Community Council and Walden Women’s Club. She was also a member of Most Precious Blood Church and a volunteer for the county’s Office for the Aging; through the latter, she often handed out books and magazines to patients of the former Horton Memorial Hospital in Middletown.

Vandermark also enjoyed promoting Walden’s happenings and wrote editorials for the Wallkill Valley Times. She was very adamant about submitting her column each week, even while she faced health issues.
“I met her in 2003 at the Women’s Club; she was interested in promoting things at the club,” said Mary Ellen Matise, the Town of Montgomery’s historian. “She always liked doing press coverages and releases long before doing the columns.”

Both Walden and Orange County have commemorated Vandermark’s outreach efforts on numerous occasions: she received the county’s Citizen of the Year Award, the Sam Phelps Service Award, and was nominated for the Town of Montgomery’s Citizen of the Month in July 2020. In 2021, the village named James Olley Park’s new community center after Vandermark as a surprise for her 90th birthday.

Inside the community center, visitors can find a corkboard decorated with pictures of Vandermark smiling and surrounded by residents, a testament to how many lives she touched. Her impact on the village was immeasurable, and her legacy will be forever cemented in her community’s hearts.

“Anita Vandermark was truly one of a kind. At the beginning of my career, Anita showed me kindness, support, and friendship. She wasn’t interested in what I didn’t know, my age, or my level of experience. She was only interested in what I had to offer to the community and how we could partner to improve the quality of life for those around us,” said Brian Maher, assemblyman and former Walden mayor. “Anita and her entire family will always hold a special place in my heart and I will always consider Anita’s role in my life as an instrumental part of my professional development.”