Ernestine Small steps down after 37 years

When Ernestine Small, the executive director of the Rockville Centre Economic Opportunity Council, decided to retire, she didn’t want to make a big fuss. So instead of telling all her relatives and friends that she was retiring, she simply sent out invitations to her retirement party.

Small has worked at the EOC for 37 years. She doesn’t remember exactly how long she has been the executive director, but it has been at least 15 years.

“After 37 years — and I’m 72 years old — I’m a little tired,” she said. “It’s a lot of work. It’s a wonderful program, but a lot to do, and there’s more to do now, with more people needing service and help.” The EOC offers services to village residents in need, including welfare counseling, legal aid, immigration services and childhood development services.

When Small came aboard in 1972, she was a family service worker with the Head Start program. It was Small’s job to interview children for the Head Start program and then recruit them. After two years she became a family service worker aid, or community organizer aid, as it was known then.

“And I just kept working and moving up the ladder, from community organizer aid to community organizer supervisor,” she recalled. “And then from the supervisor to the directorship.”

Small grew up in Rockville Centre and attended South Side High School, so she knew the community better than most. And in a job that required her to work extensively with the community, that knowledge helped her.

“She would be able to give good advice and advise the board if there was a reason not to do something or if there was a reason something should be done,” said Clarence Hudson, chairman of the EOC’s board of directors. “She will be missed.”

Anne Wells, a friend of Small’s for nearly 50 years and a member of the EOC Executive Board, had been encouraging Small to retire for a while now so that she could enjoy herself. Wells knew, however, that Small would leave a huge hole to be filled.

“She has been the person you go to when you had problems and you needed something, whether you were involved with the EOC or not,” Wells said. “Everyone in the community knew they could depend on Ernestine one way or the other — whether it was a social problem or a need. They knew if they went to her, they were going to get some help.”

Former Mayor Eugene Murray worked with Small for many years, as both village trustee and mayor. “She spoke like it was,” Murray said. “She wasn’t just political. She was there for her people. She was for the West End community.”

After she officially retires on Sept. 30, Small plans to relax for a while and do some traveling. But she is not the type to spend her time idly. “I’m almost sure I’ll do some volunteering somewhere,” she said. “There’s always something to do.”

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