47.0°,
Mostly Cloudy A life full of music and love
Joel Ratner spent his life combining his two greatest passions: music and his family. He regularly brought his wife and two children, who are musicians themselves, to concerts at the Brentwood School District, where he directed the music program for the past 19 years.
His desire to spread his love for music was so great, and so influential, that it came as no surprise when there was hardly room at Temple Emanu-El last month for everyone who came to pay him their final respects.
A trumpeter and composer who idolized Louis Armstrong, and a tireless advocate for musical education, Ratner died unexpectedly in his sleep in his East Meadow home on Feb. 23, at age 56. The services were held three days later. “I have never seen so many people at a funeral in my life,” said Gary Adler, of East Meadow, a friend of Ratner’s for 20 years. “The outpouring of support was just unbelievable. So many friends and all of the people that he touched.”
Fittingly, it was at a concert, in August 1987 at Eisenhower Park, that Ratner met his wife, Jody. They married two years later, and after settling in East Meadow in 1994, they raised two children, Leslie, 22, and Eric, 20.
Those who knew Ratner best spoke of his humble yet passionate nature, his willingness to help others, his quiet sense of humor, and his belief that every child should have the opportunity to learn music. “I always said, first came his real family, and second came his Brentwood family,” said Jody, a violist who teaches music privately at Kellenberg Memorial High School. “He was totally, totally devoted to the Brentwood schools, the teachers and especially the children.”
Born in Manhattan on May 19, 1958, Ratner grew up in Island Park, and graduated from West Hempstead High School. He studied music at Hofstra University and Queens College, earning a doctorate in educational administration. In 1996 he became the Brentwood School District’s music coordinator, and more recently he added fine arts to the title.
