Herb Reisman, my dad, died Nov. 20 in Rockland County, N.Y., where he had been a community leader for nearly a half century. At 75, he was completing his 15th year as the supervisor of Ramapo. No one else had served so long as the town’s full-time, elected executive officer. The following column, one of many stories following his death, focused on his most meaningful contribution, bringing the community together. We’re republishing this column as a tribute to him.
, Richard Reisman
Driving past Ramapo Town Hall Sunday morning, I noticed two things. The flag was flying high, meaning Herb Reisman was still fighting cancer. And out at the road in front of the renovated Town Hall he guided to completion, the row of white signs was getting longer.
They are there because of Reisman, who died Sunday night at Good Samartian Hospital. They are there because of his vision, his desire to have people connect across the globe just as he had managed to get them to connect across his diverse town. That was his gift, all who knew him will tell you. He brought people together.
He brought together Ramapo residents with roots in Ireland, and then Italy, Israel, the Philippines, India and, most recently, Africa. The separate groups would come together for Heritage Nights, each celebrating its connections with homelands far from Ramapo. If that seemed divisive, Reisman knew better.
Once he got them coming together on their own, he would invite three groups at a time to a Dessert Night. They ate cake together, but more important to Reisman, they talked to one another. In their differences, they found common ground. There were Heritage Nights, Dessert Nights, the Ramapo Council of United Americans, the Diversity Breakfast bringing all the groups together, and trips around the world to Ramapo’s twin communities, the ones represented by the growing line of white signs.
Mementos and photos from trips to Ireland, Italy, Israel, the Philippines and India adorn the walls of Reisman’s office at Town Hall.
“It was almost courageous of Herb to go to India,” said Deputy Supervisor Phil Tisi. His health hadn’t been good, but he didn’t want to disappoint the others making the journey. It took a toll on him, longtime office staffers said. Marlene Lang, who worked for Reisman for 20 years, said the trip a year ago marked a change in his physical well-being. Something was probably brewing before, she said, but he was never the same after his return.
But, he had to go to India just as much as he had to come to Town Hall. “He came in here lots of days when he could hardly walk,” said Diane Domenick another staffer with Reisman for more than a dozen years.
Through it all, they said, he generated enthusiasm about the town and his programs. “He got us excited about all those ethnic activities and the Over 90 Club,” said Lang.
“The walls in his office tell it all,” she said softly, walking from her desk to stand in the doorway and think back to the better days.
Tisi has worked for Reisman for about a year and half. At least temporarily, it falls to him to keep the town on track, to keep the staff doing what Reisman would have wanted: taking care of Ramapo’s business. That’s why Town Hall was open yesterday morning, “because Herb would have wanted it that way,” Tisi said.
To him, working for Reisman has been “like a graduate course in politics. Herb never stopped teaching.” After a career as a teacher and a guidance counselor in Harlem, Reisman “believed dialogue between people is the best teacher,” Tisi said. Politics was just a continuation of the classroom.”
Mostly, he taught people to respect one another and to get along. “Harmonious Ramapo” wasn’t just a slogan,” Tisi said, “he lived it. He sacrificed untold hours of personal time to bring people together.” Given his devotion to bringing a diverse community together, and to Ramapo’s seniors, it was no surprise that he struggled to make his last public appearances at the state NAACP conference Oct. 7 and the Over 90 Club luncheon 10 days later.
With his wife, Phyllis, at his side at the luncheon, Reisman told me privately that he wanted to be sure the luncheon would continue “after I’m gone.”
That’s probably the biggest challenge confronting Ramapo’s next supervisor. Lots of people in political life can figure out how to get elected. Some can even figure out how to run a town.
But not everyone can unite a diverse community like Herb Reisman did.
“No one’s going to fill his shoes,” Town Clerk Christian Sampson said. “If you’re really lucky, you find someone who’s still growing.”
Baird is a columnist for the Rockland County (N.Y.) Journal News.
