Beloved Custodian Passes On
By Deandra Mouzon
Editor In Chief
On Saturday Oct.1 Nadya, “Shorty” Colon, a custodian and well known member of the York College community, passed away at the Rehabilitation Hospice in Jamaica Hills after a long battle with cancer.
Colon had worked at York College for over two decades and in many ways was like a family member to many of the college’s administration and staff. A host of students also grew to know and love the woman known affectionately as “Shorty.”
“I think I was the one who gave her the name you know,” said Professor Stephen Tyson who had been friends with Colon for nearly twenty years.
She is remembered as being a very feisty person with a huge spirit and generous heart. Tyson, among others, recalled how Colon was always willing to help someone. One time she began a collection for a colleague Julissa Contrasas because of a fire that had occurred in her home.
“One of her colleagues here’s house burnt down and she came to me and said we need to take up a collection for that person and she initiated everything… and gave her the money,” remembered Tyson.
Professor Mark Blickley, like others at the college, said that he’d met Colon in a hallway years ago where they exchanged some playful banter.
“I’d always get on her. I’d always bust her chops.”
Blickley also divulged that when Colon was not working, which was rare because she had maintained at least two jobs (the other in a doctor’s office), she took the time to understand real estate. More importantly perhaps was the driving force behind this interest.
“She was a pseudo real estate tycoon. She was very smart,” said Blickley. “She had an obsession with Maine. She was looking for properties by a lake. I said ‘but Shorty you don’t even like the water’…it turns out that what her dream was was to open up this home for kids with cancer and disabilities.”
In support of this dream, Blickley recalls running around all over New York city one Christmas season looking for a book on real estate in Maine. Happy to find one Barnes and Nobel he said giving it to Colon was “the highlight of his Christmas.”
Another good friend of Colon’s who saw her right before her passing, College Office Assistant CadyAnn Parris David, spoke about the spunky personality and warm heart that Colon always possessed.
“She [was] a die hard, DIE HARD Mets fan. My son is a Yankee’s fan. So they always had a little light banter back and forth.”
Aside from their personal friendship Parris-David also recalled how Colon was always willing to help while she was working; often taking the time to do extra work that was not asked or required of her.
“She would come in here and do things above and beyond her job.” “She had a big heart for her little size,” said Parris-David remembering the woman’s stature.
Being one of the last few people to see Colon alive Parris-David said that although she was sick her personality did not change at all. She was still up talking about her plans for the future and making jokes as she normally would be.
“She still went out with a bang, that fighting spirit in her,” said Parris-David nostalgically.
“The campus has already changed without her.”
Colon was such an integral part of the community that colleagues at the college had donated some sick days to help her while she was in the hospice.
Shortly after her passing Nadya “Shorty” Colon was cremated as per her request. She was 58 years old when she died. Actions toward having a memorial here at the school are being discussed.
Colon was a staple figure on the York College Campus. Her fun and spirited personality will be greatly missed.
The recent death of Steve Jobs, the tycoon behind Apple computers, has people wondering what the future of the company will look like.