The Life Story of a Candidate for Police Commissioner
Born, 1960, North Shore Hospital, raised in the Cow Bay area, the last thirty-five years in Port Washington., Attended college up state NY, majored in Accounting. Met my wife, Martha K. Beale there in 1980. She grew up in Geneseo, father art professor at SUNY, Mother local historian and book writer of famous people in Western NY. Married thirty years, all three of our children; Katherine 28, Justin 26 and Alexandria 19, graduated from Schreiber, 2008, 2010 & 2017 respectively. Marty graduated from Alfred University with me in 1983 with Nursing Degree. Went on to receive her master’s Degree from C.W Post, cum Lauda… recently received her Doctorate at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio in Nursing.
Growing up on Manhasset Bay was truly special. We boated, windsurfed, skied and in the winter, ran rescue boats for wintertime sailors who, at times capsized. Waterfowl gaming was a past time both in Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor.
Life at a Young Age
As a young person, my interests were not so much sports, but machinery and building things. My father often said, give him a battery, key switch and steering wheel, and he’ll come back with something. Unknowing at the time, we had bad case of dyslexia, and to compound this, doctor said at early age, I don’t like baseball, to which we argued. Simply put, I do not look out of both eyes at same time, so basically out of the question, could we catch a ball in flight.
We made up for this, we have a great memory, know numbers and facts quite well, have strong motor skills, and found myself traveling in some tough groups, and always making sure all around me were cared for.
We always worked several jobs and played hard at an early age. We traveled the gin mills at 16, were driving at 15 and doing spring break in our Junior and Senior years of high school.
We experienced some very difficult tragic experiences, and lost some very close friends at an early age, terrible car crash, senseless shooting in NY, and a hunting accident by an inexperienced person unknown from Ct. These were all very tough items to deal with at a young age.
A Devoted and Loving Son
We share much of this, to outline the many life experiences. My Mom owned two antique stores 1972 until 1982 the year she passed, on Lower Main Street in town, The Old Village Shop and The Meating Place. I did her books for the business, inventory control and did the record keeping the American Heart Assoc. as she was Chair for local chapter. We also did her furniture delivery prior to licensing. Police Chief would visit and ask if we held a license, to which she would say she didn’t know, he should inquire. Never did, nor did we abuse this privilege. Mom, along with Jack Shields and Marge Wagner were the founders of the Harbor Association, today is Pride in Port.
We knew everyone in town could fix anything or find whatever needed. We held a key to the gas docks at Ventura Air. John O’Neill expected us gas up the plains when they came in for refueling.
Always had nice vehicles, girlfriends, many things to do, and of course worked all the time. Simply a great time that taught us a lot, some good, and some not so proud of.