Leslie Blake Anderson rented in Cherry Grove since the late 1990s. She met Emma McGrattan in 2010 and they were married in 2013.
Born in Riverhead to Al and Bunny Anderson on September 14, 1966, she attended St. David’s in Riverhead and then Central Islip High School.
A graduate of the University at Albany, she spent a year studying at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In addition, she graduated from Albany Law School at Union University in 1990.
After 32 years in various jobs, which led to her position as career prosecutor with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, she retired in May 2023.
Anderson was a founding member of the East Coast Gang Investigation Association.
“In 1991 when I started in the DA’s office, there were judges and defense attorneys who didn’t believe that woman should be lawyers,” she was quoted as saying in an interview published in Newsday. “They called us girls and did not take us seriously. There were few Black lawyers, and fewer Black female lawyers. I took those prejudices as a challenge but there were definitely people who intentionally made life more difficult.”
Anderson was also a lifelong member of the East End NAACP where her grandparents, great-aunt and great-uncle were the unit’s charter members.
Her humor, personality, and drive made her larger than life. She loved rugby, which she played in college; and more recently, she’d taken up fencing.
The McGrattan Anderson Family is proud to announce the establishment of the Leslie Blake Anderson, Esq. Memorial Fund for Nursing Excellence at Suffolk County Community College.
This fund will provide support and resources to nursing students in their pursuit of excellence in their studies and clinical practice. It will continue to support the future nurses at Suffolk County Community College and will also inspire a new generation of compassionate and skilled nursing professionals.
