Steven Loria (1963-2025)

Steven Loria, 62, died May 31 at his home in Philipstown, surrounded by family members.

He was born March 22, 1963 in Kew Gardens, Queens, the son of Charles and Constance Loria, and raised in Hicksville, Long Island. Steven and his brother, Richard, grew up in a close-knit neighborhood where their Crown Street childhood meant being outdoors, often from morning to dusk, riding bikes, swimming in backyard pools, trading jokes, doing 1970s commercial and movie parody skits, loving Farrah Fawcett Majors and her husband, Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man), and learning early on what it meant to belong and build community. The only constant that would interrupt Steven and Richard’s fun was their mother’s call for them to have their daily “milk” — a blend of milk, raw eggs and Nesquik.

After graduating from Hicksville High School, Steven earned his bachelor’s degree from C.W. Post University and a master’s degree in business from St. John’s University. His working journey began humbly, with early jobs at McDonald’s and Sears, where he sold car batteries and tires on commission, but in 1986 he found his professional home at Citigroup/Citibank in Manhattan and later Queens.

Over four decades, Steven became a trusted manager and gifted teacher and mentor. His colleagues often said that what Steven taught them extended far beyond the workplace: how to lead with integrity, how to think clearly and critically, how to stay grounded and how make every possible effort to never burn bridges, no matter how tempting or warranted.

In 1995, Steven met his partner, Russ Cusick, and in 2013, they were married at the Philipstown Town Hall in Cold Spring. They shared a love of home life and travel, especially to the ocean and the beach.

Steven was a gardener who found deep joy in nurturing the spaces around him. He worked to make the property around their East Mountain home as beautiful, welcoming and full of life and beauty as possible. It gave him comfort, solace and a sense of joy.

Steven suffered from kidney disease from early childhood, and one of his pivotal life changes came in 2002, when his kidneys failed and he was forced to begin dialysis. It was during this dark and uncertain period when his brother Richard donated one of his kidneys — the family joked that Richard gave Steven the better of his two kidneys, which couldn’t have possibly been a better match.

In recent years, Steven and Russ invested in vacation rental properties along the Gulf Coast of Florida, were they spent long stretches during the winter.

Along with his partner of 30 years, Steven is survived by his brother, Richard Loria (Sharon) and their children, Dylan and Madison; his stepmother, Billie Loria; and his stepsister Liz Fiorino (Vin) and their children, Charlotte and Liam.