Like most of us, Sheryl Santi-Luks is busy Monday mornings preparing for the week ”“ but she”™s always got time to talk about how she and her first husband, Emilio John Santi, started their moving and storage business in 1974 and how, in a strange twist, that led to her affinity for the American Cancer Society (ACS).
“I was a registered nurse working at Rockland County Mental Health as an alcohol and substance abuse counselor,” said Santi-Luks. John, her police officer husband, was doing extra work in Manhattan on weekends, moving offices. “The moving business was so busy, I finally asked him, ”˜Why not do this on a full-time basis and make a career out of it?”™” The couple officially started Santi Express Inc. and the moving company has been on a roll ever since.
The road”™s twists and turns, however, were not all smooth. In 1985, the couple bought their first home in Suffern ”“ ironically knowing it would be their first and last. John had been diagnosed with cancer in 1981 and was within months of dying. “We bought a house in the middle of the woods,” says Santi-Luks, “after years of renting and owning a condo, we wanted to have a real home of our own, especially for our children, Justin and Evan. I didn”™t want them further traumatized ”“ not only losing their dad, but losing their home as well.”
John Santi died six months after they moved into their Suffern house. The young widow turned to her two boys and asked them what to do. “You have the truck, mom, and dad”™s name is on it,” said the two boys (now 30 and 26). That was all it took to get Santi-Luks (then just Santi) to forge ahead with the family moving business. Along the way, she has built a successful enterprise and gained a second chance at happiness with Ted Luks.
Sheryl and Ted Luks have been married nearly 19 years and live in the Suffern home she bought with John Santi. “It”™s home,” said Santi-Luks. “Yes, it was a bit strange at first, but our children understood.” The couple now have four children ”“ Santi”™s two sons and Luks”™ son and daughter, Howard and Rebecca.
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Santi-Luks no longer owns the single truck she and John started with. Now she”™s up to a fleet of five, her drivers and staff have been, for the most part, with the company since it started. Her spirit of volunteerism, which she says is second nature, grew as a result of losing her first partner to cancer.
“We always had a ”˜guest”™ at our house while I was growing up,” recalls Brooklyn-born Santi-Luks, whose parents were known offer a room to Holocaust survivors arriving in America. “I grew up in a household where giving was second nature. My mother always told me, ”˜You can write a check for anything ”“ but not everyone can go out and do work for charity.”™”
Santi-Luks has learned the lesson well. She”™s always got time to lend a truck for a project, whether it”™s for meals on wheels, the Rockland Family Shelter, People to People or the Jewish Federation of Rockland. “And when People to People need boxes when schools get ready to open, we”™re not just talking a few boxes ”“ we”™re talking hundreds, for backpacks and other school tools for students that People for People collect and distribute,” said Santi-Luks.
She”™s also opened her storage facility for good causes. Right now, she”™s holding a baby grand piano and a pool table in storage for the Jewish Federation while it refurbishes its new digs, the 150,000-square-foot St. Regis Building in West Nyack.
Santi-Luks has many worthwhile causes she contributes her time and effort to, but her greatest passion is the American Cancer Society. As a member of the board of directors, she”™s gearing up for the free skin cancer screenings the ACS will be giving at the Palisades Center”™s fourth-floor community room Wednesday, May 30, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. “We extended the hours so people who can”™t get there during regular working hours can come in for a free screening,” said Santi-Luks. She”™ll be one of the volunteers checking patients, putting her registered nursing skills to work.
June is the month for remembering cancer survivors and, typically, Sant-Luks is active. She and a host of volunteers are gearing up for the 10th annual Relay for Life at Clarkstown North High School the weekend of June 9 and 10. “We”™re part of the nationwide event to remember those we lost to cancer and to our cancer survivors,” said Santi-Luks. “We camp out and hold a ”˜survivors”™ walk”™ as part of the weekend.”
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Santi-Luks will be walking for John Santi and many others who lost the battle. “But it”™s a battle we”™ll eventually win,” said Santi-Luks with confidence. With her dedication and drive, there”™s no doubt this female dynamo will put her energy into making that dream come true.
You can join the relay at the Clarkstown North High School in New City beginning 10 a.m. June 9 by calling 800-ACS-2345.
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