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Fair Making Seaford ‘paradise’
After a whirlwind career with the FBI took him to cities across the country, Charles Wroblewski returned to Seaford, the community he had called home since 1948 — “where everyone knows each other,” he said — when he retired in June 2005. He wanted to spend time with his mother, Marie, a former real estate agent who taught him all about the development of the community after World War II.
Wroblewski spends most of his days in the neighborhood, volunteering for civic and service organizations like the Lions Club, which he currently serves as first vice president. But according to Donald Paulson — a fellow Lion and a friend of 12 years — whenever Wroblewski leaves town, he says the same thing when he gets back: “Ah, we’ve returned to paradise.”
“He is the perfect townie,” Paulson said. “He literally is Mr. Seaford. When I introduce him to people at community events, I call him the unofficial mayor. And we don’t have an event where we don’t have Charlie.”
In the past decade, Wroblewski has dedicated countless hours to make his beloved hometown a better place. From revitalizing the Seaford Historical Society, to organizing charity events with the Lions, to bringing the many other groups for which he volunteers for together to work on projects, longtime residents agree that he weaves the fabric that makes their community tightly knit. That’s why Wroblewski was the clear choice as the Herald’s 2016 Person of the Year.
He was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and he and his parents moved to Seaford shortly after World War II. “Our house was pre-cut like a jigsaw puzzle and put together on a lot in the harbor,” he recalled. “We had no car … my mother would take me in a little red wagon to the village to shop. We were a sleepy community.”
The community — particularly Seaford Harbor — was still young when Wroblewski was a child. Judy Bongiovi, who became president of the Seaford Historical Society after Wroblewski’s nine-year tenure, said she was amazed by the depth and detail of his memories of Seaford — memories that have helped the organization preserve the past.
“When we go through our different archival articles and photos, nine times out of 10 he knows the people in them,” Bongiovi said. “His mind is like a steel trap; he’s like ancestry.com in the form of a person. He just knows these fantastic stories that can’t be lost, so whenever he speaks, we all listen.”
Wroblewski attended Jackson Avenue and Seaford Avenue schools before becoming a member of Seaford High School’s second graduating class in 1959. In 2001, he showed his appreciation for the education he received in the community by creating a $1,000 scholarship for a Seaford High senior in memory of his second-grade teacher, Helen Snyder.
After earning degrees from St. John’s University and the university’s law school, he was drafted into the Army, where he served as a staff judge advocate during the Vietnam conflict. When he came home, he learned that the FBI was hiring, and got his first job in the Louisville, Ky., division. He also worked in Chicago, and at FBI headquarters in Washington. In the Baltimore division, he was a supervisory special agent assigned to white-collar crimes, kidnapping, extortion, fugitives and bank robberies.
Seaford Wellness Council Secretary Peter Ruffner, who is also president of the library board of trustees and a member of the Friends of Tackapausha, said that Wroblewski’s career choice is indicative of the type of person he is — someone who is willing to put his life and needs on hold for the sake of others. Whether he sees him at Sunday Mass at St. William the Abbot, quietly donating money to the wellness council for its service projects, helping set up the Field of Honor for Veterans Day or at a cleanup at the Tackapausha Preserve, Ruffner said, Wroblewski’s values of activism and leadership move him to give of himself.
“Even if you didn’t know him, if you live in Seaford, he still cares about you,” Ruffner said. “He’s very emblematic of how good the people of Seaford are.”
Since he returned to Seaford, Wroblewski has helped to revamp and recharge the Historical Society and museum. Under his presidency, the group renovated the Waverly Avenue facility, which houses hundreds of artifacts serves as a meeting place and hosts educational programs for children and adults. Bongiovi noted that her friend oversaw the project while renovating his own home, on Riverside Drive, which was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
“He was homeless for many months after the storm, but he still continued to do this work,” she said. “He was such an important part of getting the Historical Society to where it is today. He really is a gem.”
Wroblewski is also passionate about the Lions Club, Paulson said, and has collected hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses for the group to be donated to those in need. He also organized the club’s poster contest for students at Seaford Middle School and St. William, and is an ever-present force behind the organization’s blood drive — the largest single-day event of its kind on Long Island.
Paulson also serves alongside Wroblewski on the Seaford 9/11 Memorial Committee. Wroblewski has been commended for his work with both groups: He was the 2012 Seaford 9/11 Honorary Patriot for significant contributions to society, and in 2014 he won the highest honor in Lions, the Melvin Jones Fellow Award for dedicated humanitarian service.
A past Seaford American Legion Law and Order Ceremony honoree, Wroblewski serves as the chaplain for Post 1132. Noting that the legion supports Boy Scout troops 239 and 581, Paulson said that Wroblewski has helped countless young men devise and complete community service projects in Seaford.
He has received several other honors in the past decade — the New York State and Bermuda Lions Foundation’s Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award, a Nassau County Senior Citizen of the Year nomination, and honorary starter honors at the Wellness Council Hot Chocolate Run. But Paulson and Bongiovi said their friend also does the “little things” that fewer people know about, like driving friends to the hospital or cooking his mother’s famous stuffed cabbage for neighbors.
Whether he is organizing a large-scale community event or doing a favor for a friend, Wroblewski once told the Herald, his goal is simply to help others. “I figure if good happens to you, and then you pass it on, why not pass it on right here?” he said. “It’s exciting to see others blossom. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time.”
Laura Schofer contributed to this story.
