On Wednesday, Feb. 11, Gino Papa, the longtime village justice for the Village of East Hills, made his final public appearance in the village he had served for decades. On that evening, he received The Award of Distinction, which is the highest award for lifetime service in East Hills.
Friends, family members and village officials attended the evening. The honors were well-deserved and the evening closed a chapter on a life dedicated to service to the Village of East Hills. It was symbolic as well as Papa died several days later at St. Francis Hospital on Monday, Feb. 23, at age 84. According to media reports, he was surrounded by family members at the time of his passing.
“Everyone admired and respected Gino. We will all truly miss him,” said Mayor Michael R. Koblenz, in a tribute posted on the village website. “What an all around, wonderful person he was. He loved our village, contributed immensely and we will always remember with the greatest affinity his dedication and extraordinary and gifted blend of leadership.”
Earlier, at the Feb. 11 meeting, Koblenz had hailed Papa in similar terms.
“[Gino Papa] is a treasure for our community and we will always appreciate his outstanding service and leadership,” the mayor said.
Papa was village justice for eight years and acting village justice and prosecutor for 22 years. The meeting gave village officials the chance to recall and extol Papa’s brilliant and tireless example of public service.
During the ceremonies, a plaque was presented to Papa, which hailed the jurist as being “an outstanding and exceptional member in the legal profession.”
“Gino Papa possesses the finest personal attributes of compassion, candor, fairness and integrity,” the plaque further stated.
Papa was recognized not just for his service to village government, but for also being an exceptional resident in the village for over 50 years.
That was dramatized when Papa received the before-mentioned Award of Distinction. The award, village officials said, was presented to him as a lasting token of the village’s gratitude for his contributions to village life.
In 1934, Papa, with his family, emigrated from Italy to the United States. In his adopted country, he settled on Long Island. A lifelong resident of the Roslyn area and a product of the Roslyn public schools, Papa also served in the Korean War and later graduated from both Hofstra University and the St. John’s University School of Law. He moved to East Hills in 1962. In addition to his service to East Hills, he served as both an assistant Nassau County district attorney and as a chief deputy attorney within the Town of North Hempstead.
Papa was predeceased by his wife Helen and his brother Carmine. He was survived by three daughters, Gina, Linda and Monica, one son, C.J. and five grandchildren. C.J. Papa has made his own mark on the world of sports journalism. For several years, the younger Papa was a sports anchor for SNY, where he also covered the New York Islanders. He currently is the morning sports anchor for Fios 1 Sunrise.
