Mineola lost one of its finest citizens with the death of Judge William Dempsey on Oct. 1. Bill, whom I was proud to call a friend, served as Family Court Judge for 21 years. He started as an assistant village justice of Westbury and then village judge of Mineola. Later he was appointed an assistant district attorney. He is survived by his wife, Frances, and son William, also an assistant district attorney in Nassau County. His daughter, the late Dr. Joanne Dempsey was a professor of medieval literature. Joanne was considered the leading scholar on Beowulf and Geoffrey Chaucer in the United States. He also leaves a daughter-in-law Susan and grandson William.

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At the wake we had a chance to speak briefly with Father Robert Batule, Tom and Janet Raad, Detective Jack Sharkey, Walter Hobbs, Joe DiGiorgio, Willy Jaeckel, Margaret Fleming, Maryanne Warnecke and Manny Grilo. The VFW and American Legion gathered to pay tribute to Bill.

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What a wonderful job Franni LaPorte Luisi does as singer at Corpus Christi Church.

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Laura Blake of Mineola, who works at O'Donnell's Irish Pub enjoyed breakfast with a group of friends at the Jericho Diner.

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Kevin and Wendy Clancy and their sons John and Charles of Juniper Avenue and Dennis Sheridan of Richlee Court and his mother Elizabeth of Geranium Avenue, all enjoyed dinner at the new Revere Restaurant on Old Country Road.

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Melanie Dnyprowsky and Karen Dombeck both of Mineola, drive Mineola school buses.

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Behind Carlino's at Jericho Turnpike and Mineola Boulevard is a fine newly paved parking field. However, the employees and patrons of the local stores would appreciate having the broken meters fixed so they can park there legally and not receive tickets.

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Ruth Tenney was born at Nassau Hospital (now Winthrop). She and her husband, Bob, the man with the bushy white beard, live on Colonial Avenue.

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Some have asked why the beautiful monument in the park honoring the heroes of September 11, 2001 has the words Somerset County on the bottom right. This is in remembrance of the passengers on the plane in Pennsylvania who overcame the terrorists at the cost of their own lives and crashed the plane in Somerset County, PA. The Pentagon is pictured in the center in memory of those who died there.

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Ed Hilbert is another man born in Mineola. He and his wife Mary live on Fairfield Avenue.

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Bud Haller and Charles Cassely enjoyed lunch at TR's. Bud tells us that his son Ray is doing well since his recent heart attack. Bud lives on Capitol Street and Charlie on Brown Street.

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John and Irene Ignaczak of Cleveland Avenue dined at the Davenport. Irene works at the library and also at the same restaurant were Richard and Betty Stillwell of Marcellus Road. He, too, was born in the village.

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I saw a picture of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in The New York Times. This beautiful Moscow church was torn down by Stalin in 1931. Stalin had planned to build in its place the biggest building in the world topped off by a statue of Lenin. The plan never came off. The church had been erected originally to celebrate Russia's victory over Napoleon in 1812. It made one feel good to see this great cathedral again standing.

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Maureen Guzzo of the Mineola Post office sends us this bit of information. In 1911, the government was intrigued at the idea of delivering mail via the airplane. The first experimental flight took place between Garden City and Mineola. The plane dropped the mailbags from the air where they were picked up by the Mineola postmaster. The first flyer was Earle Ovington.

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John O'Shea, the village justice, reports that the village had 2,783 parking violations and 214 moving violations for the month of August.

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We wish the cops would clamp down on the people who break the law driving while talking on their cell phones. You see it every day.

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