Denise Plastiras

Riverhead resident Denise Plastiras, formerly of Mattituck, died Sept. 22, 2022. She was 68.

She was born Dec. 3, 1953, in Queens, to William and Mary (Saverino) Spellman.

Ms. Plastiras earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Downstate Medical School in 1982; a Master of Science in exercise physiology from Queens College in 1986; and her clinical doctorate from Touro College in 2008. She was a New York State licensed physical therapist and integrative yoga instructor. She served as director of Syosset Rehabilitation and Testing from 1982 to 1992, a professor at Touro College in Bay Shore from 2001 to 2011 and worked as a physical therapist for Plainview Physical Therapy and, most recently, Maximum Performance in Riverhead.

Family said she enjoyed music, dancing and being with her friends and family.

Predeceased by her parents and her husband, Andrew Plastiras, who died in 2002, she is survived by her son, James, of Westfield, N.J.; her siblings, Lyn Ruffolo, Peter Spellman and Patricia Tullercash; and three grandchildren.

The family will receive visitors Wednesday, Oct. 12, from 10 a.m. to noon at Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport. Interment will take place at Cutchogue Cemetery.