Tuesday, July 16, 2019
I was very saddened to hear of my Uncle Ed's passing. For those of you who do not know me, I grew up at 160 Bayville Avenue and moved to Florida in the mid 1970s when my father retired from Reingold. I grew up next to Ed Esposito and from the age of 3 called him Uncle Ed. We still spoke every so often and when I came to New York for business we would try to hook up to catch up on old times. I have and will always consider Bayville my home and hold it dear to my heart. The principal reason for visiting was to see Uncle Ed. he would tell me how he still went down to the Fire Department daily and even would share differences he had with what equipment he felt the Fire Department needed versus what they had. He did not want for an opinion. I also hold him and the Fire Department close as they were there when our house burned down in the early 1970s and they and the town saw us through the destruction of nearly all we owned. Ed Esposito was Bayville to me and I have a hard time thinking of one and not the other. I was happy I made it to his surprise birthday party and am sad that I cannot come up for his service as it has materialized so quickly. Uncle Ed survived the Battle of the Bulge, he endeavored to make Bayville safe for the people who lived there and did everything he could to build a Fire Department that could serve the community he served. One of my fondest most recent contacts we had was breakfast in Mineola when I came to the Island for a deposition. We were sitting there and Sheila was talking about how they were looking at moving to be closer to her kids and advising my wife of the plan. I looked at Ed sitting next to me and leaned over and said that all seemed nice. He looked at Sheila and whispered in my ear "I'm not leaving Bayville". My retort to that was, "But Sheila says you are open to it." He said back "Bayville is where I am staying." Bayville was his place. You all were his citizens, friends, and most of all his family. I will miss him but I know that the void left in my life pales in comparison to the void for this town. He was one more person we lose from the greatest generation of Americans. He fought for his country, his town and his people. You have lost a truly good man who everyone is just a bit better than they would have been had they not known him. Bye Uncle Ed.
