Terry Burton Reichel: ‘She is an inspiration’

She is the go-to person in our community,” Tommy Asher says of his neighbor and friend Terry Burton Reichel. “There has not been one event, one benefit that she has not orchestrated or has been intimately involved with that has not been a success. I have never heard her say no to something that was going to better an individual or our community as a whole.”

Terry and her husband of 21 years, Ray, a former Island Park Fire Department chief, have long been active in the department. The day after Hurricane Sandy struck, people began bringing clothing and food to the firehouse. “The first day, we just put the stuff in a closet,” Terry recalled. “The next day the closet overflowed, and soon there were piles of clothes, food and supplies, and someone had to organize it, so I did — and from there it just exploded.”

“After Sandy, Terry orchestrated where the items would go, and arranged how they would be distributed,” recounted Chief Anthony D’Esposito. “It wasn’t just the village but the entire area. She organized the truckloads of supplies and food at the Village Hall parking lot, put everything in order and divided it equally and fairly, and made sure the ones that needed it were the ones that received it. She forged relationships with neighborhood communities and reached out to people in the area. If anyone needed something, if it was a necessity, they got it. And she still continues — when there is someone in need, it’s Terry that’s called upon to get it done.”

Terry and Ray have four children, Robbie, TJ, Julia and Coleen, who are often right there, helping their mother. Ray is not only a firefighter but also a sergeant in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police. He comes from a family of firefighters and public servants. After Sandy, he said, his wife just saw a need, a gap, and went about filling it.