A longtime member of the Mineola Library’s Board of Trustees Michael Vezzi died on Feb. 16 at the age of 81.
Vezzi was born on Sept. 6, 1938, and was an active member of the Mineola community, serving as a member of the Mineola Salvation Army, a board member for the Sagamore Hill Advisory, a member of the Mineola Corpus Christi Choir, a member of the North Hempstead Town Project Independence, and an honorary life member of the Knights of Columbus.
“Heartbreaking” was the first word Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss described Vezzi’s death as on Tuesday evening. “Michael was a great part of the community for many many years and for the last eight years he was an active [Mineola] library trustee. He served the community well, he served the library well, and it’s going to be a loss for all of us.”
Strauss, who as village mayor appoints the library’s trustees to their respective positions, said, he has not given any immediate thought to who Vezzi’s successor may be.
“It’s too early for that right now,” Strauss said. “Let the rest of the library board and the family go through a bit of a grieving process before we make that decision.”
Mineola Library Director Charles Sleefe confirmed that no action would be taken by the board at this time, and noted that the next board of trustees meeting is on Monday, Feb. 24.
Sleefe said Vezzi was an advocate of many libraries throughout the area, not just Mineola’s.
The Corpus Christi Choir group wrote, “We will miss not having you at choir rehearsals and singing at the choir mass on Sunday mornings. Our group will not be the same without you. Thanks for all the years of dedicated service to the choir, and for all your thoughtfulness & generosity,” in a message on the Newsday obituary page.
Vezzi leaves behind his sister Maryanne, his children Rosanne, Theresa, and Michael, and his grandchildren Amanda, Thomas, Daniel, and Nicholas.
