Community activist and president of the Queens Civic Congress, Patricia Dolan, died Tuesday night after a car struck her while she crossed Hillside Avenue near 198th Street in Hollis at 7:35 p.m.
Police said Dolan, 72, was hit by a 1998 Nissan driven by a 51-year-old woman while on her way to a neighborhood meeting. She was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
An investigation is pending, but there does not appear to be criminality, an NYPD spokesperson said.
Dolan, who took public transportation to all her civic meetings, was walking to a Community Board 8 Transportation Committee meeting when she was struck, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall noted in a statement.
“Pat will be greatly missed and always remembered,” Marshall said. “May she rest in peace.”
As news of Dolan’s death spread Wednesday morning, officials who worked with the long-time civic leader began mourning the community’s loss.
“Certainly, it’s quite a shock,” said the president of the Juniper Parks Civic Association, Robert Holden, who had worked on civic issues with Dolan since 1995. “There was nobody more dedicated than Pat Dolan to the neighborhoods of Queens County.”
Dolan was a 20-year-member of Community Board 8, founder of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy and director of Queens Connection at the Kew Gardens Community Center.
City Comptroller John Liu, who was the City Council member representing Flushing before running for citywide office, said he had worked closely with Dolan for years.
“The borough of Queens lost a favorite daughter last night,” Liu said. “Her leadership and infectious spirit will be sorely missed, and I stand together with my fellow residents of Queens to mourn her untimely death.”
A memorial service is planned for 7 p.m. on Nov. 29 at Schwartz Brother’s Forest Park Chapel, 114-03 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
