STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — When Jacqueline Gathers’ husband died of cancer, he left behind a home inspection franchise she knew nothing about. She launched it anyway.
In 2016, Gathers and her husband, Joseph, a former human resources professional and military veteran, purchased a Pillar To Post Home Inspectors franchise. Joseph had been diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and, after initially beating it, the disease returned.
At the time, Gathers, who settled in New Brighton after moving from Brooklyn, had no intention of running the business herself. But when his cancer came back, she retired from her 30-year career as an administrator and manager with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to care for him…