Former Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Mondello, who led the GOP stronghold for over three decades before serving three years as ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, died Monday. He was 84.
The longtime political leader backed a long line of Republican politicians in Nassau, where his candidates mostly sailed to victory early in his career, but faced stiffer competition from Democrats before he left office.
“Ambassador Joe Mondello was a soldier, public official and devoted family man who lived an extraordinary life of service to Nassau County, and the nation as a whole,” said Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who had publicly feuded with Mondello in 2017. “He was also one of the most decent, and patriotic men I’ve ever known. My prayers are with his wife Linda, his children, and his many grandchildren who he loved so much.”
Born on Feb. 13, 1938 in Brooklyn, Mondello served as in the Air National Guard and U.S. Army before graduating from Hofstra University and the New England School of Law.
Mondello’s political career started in the 1980s when he was elected as a councilman in the Town of Hempstead, where he later served as supervisor. He became chairman of the Nassau GOP in 1984 and held the post until 2018, when then-President Donald Trump made Mondello a diplomat. He held that post until 2021.
During his career, he also served a stint as the chairman of the New York State Republican Committee, was an honorary chief of the Levittown Fire Department, and was of counsel in the Garden City-based law firm of Berkman, Henoch, Peterson and Peddy.
Funeral arrangements were not yet confirmed.
