Anthony Casella, 87, a former mayor and trustee of the Village of East Williston, died Monday night of natural causes.
Casella is remembered by his family and colleagues as a dedicated public servant, a man who was deeply passionate about his community and as a loving husband, father and grandfather with a strong sense of humor.
“There’s a sign in East Williston when you enter the village that has a quote by Abraham Lincoln. It reads, ‘I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives,’” said Greg Casella, one of Anthony’s three sons. “That epitomized my dad. He really cared about the community.”
Anthony Casella, better known as Tony, was born in 1937 in Massapequa Park. He lived in East Williston for the majority of his life and served the village as a trustee from 1977-1986, again from 1990-1991, and as mayor from 1991-1995.
When he stepped down in 1995, he cited his desire to give others a chance to be involved in village decisions as his reason.
He served as trustee for a third and final time from 2016 to 2019 under current Mayor Bonnie Parente.
Parente described him as someone she looked up to, saying that she continued to refer to him as mayor out of respect after he left the role.
He was motivated to seek a seat on the board again in the 2010s by a desire to help the village navigate entrance into a water sharing agreement with neighbor Williston Park, as opposed to building their own well.
Parente said he was critical to the negotiations for that agreement, which continues to serve the village today. He stepped down from government for the last time in 2019 after the deal was finalized.
“He’s a wonderful man who definitely left a legacy in our community,” said Parente, who recounted his sense of humor warmly. “Almost nobody shows their love for the village as much as he always did.”
Casella’s time in office was also marked by a fierce campaign to prevent Meritoria Drive and Robbins Drive from being placed in a different legislative district than the rest of the village in the early 1990s.
He’s also remembered for his enthusiastic support of the village’s fire department, which he encouraged his son to join, and Wheatley’s marching band, replacing their jackets before the village’s Memorial Day parade one year during his third stint as trustee in the 2010s.
Before entering village government, Casella earned an aeronautical engineering degree from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now known as the New York University Tandon School of Engineering).
He served in the army as an engineer and 2nd lieutenant from 1959-1961 at Fort Braggs in North Carolina. After leaving the army, he married his wife, Margaret, whom his son Greg described as the love of his life. He then obtained a law degree from St. John’s University and worked as a patent attorney for 40 years.
“He was a man of many hats,” Greg said. “An engineer, being in the Army, an attorney, a mayor…He’s done all these things, and they’ve all come to one goal of helping others and being a joy to everyone else in his life.”
His 17-year-old granddaughter, Autumn Casella, said she has fond memories of her grandfather as an avid photographer and telling her and her friends bedtime stories of patents he worked on at sleepovers.
“He’d sit in his big chair in this room with blue and green walls, and tell us patent stories until we fell asleep,” Autumn said. “That was probably something that’s inspired a lot of mine and my brother’s own interests. My brother wants to be an attorney himself. He really facilitated an excitement for education and appreciation of the arts for everyone.
Greg said his father would encourage village kids to share ideas for patents with him.
“Everyone has an idea for something, Greg said. “He was the go-to guy. He would encourage these kids. He’d say, ‘draw it up.’ That was his classic line, ‘draw it up.’ And the kid would have to go and literally draw it up and write a little description of their idea.”
“My dad wouldn’t just file it away,” Greg continued. “He would follow it up. He would literally look into it, do a search, and get back to them.”
“He was just very giving,” Greg said. “Whatever you needed, he tried to provide.”
Greg added that while in the army and at home, he saved the lives of multiple people, including a group of soldiers who nearly died of carbon monoxide poisoning and a child who fell into quicksand behind Lee Elementary School.
He may, however, be most widely remembered for his love and enthusiasm for the village’s Memorial Day parade.
“Whenever I participated in the Memorial Day parade with my children and my scout troops, we would march past his house,” Parente said. “He was always outside his house with his wife and family, waving American flags and handing them out to parade members.”
“Something that a lot of people mention about him is that he was the guy with this big brown house on Fairview Avenue where the parade passed by. He was a big celebratory guy who was just super generous,” Autumn said. “At times, it just felt like he and Margaret were the heart and soul of the community.”
“He was really a fun-loving guy who loved to joke around,” Greg added. “He just wanted everyone to have a good time.”
He is survived by his wife, Margaret Casella, three sons, Greg, Paul and David, as well as four grandchildren, Autumn, Liza, Benjamin and Ruby.
Wake services will be held on Thursday, May 8, at Weigand Brothers Funeral Home from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. A funeral will be held at The Church of St. Aidan on Friday, May 9, at 10 a.m. His family said the services are open to all.
