By:Angela Marshall
Former mayor turns 100
If you ride the train from Rockville Centre, park downtown or enjoy playing ball at any of the Mill River fields, you might want to wish Harry Lister happy birthday and thank him for much of the progress residents take for granted.
He was the mayor of the village for 22 years, 1945 to '67. And during those years, the village underwent a post World War II metamorphosis.
On Sept. 20, Lister celebrated his 100th birthday.
If you think parking in Rockville Centre is bad now, consider what it would have been like without the municipal lots that do exist. Many were developed during the Lister administration and back then there was little support.
Current Mayor Eugene Murray, who was in his 20s when Lister took office, said the former mayor was highly criticized for lots at the time. But Murray sees this development as just one of the many ways Lister predicted future need and did what was necessary to keep the village growing.
"If he hadn't built the parking lots, we wouldn't have a downtown area," Murray said. "We saw a lot of great changes in Rockville Centre [during Lister's tenure.]"
When Lister took office, it was the beginning of a new era in RVC politics. He was the first candidate to run for mayor on the Home Rule Party ticket. Pamphlets handed out during his first campaign boasted that he would be "Available 24 hours a day."
During a recent interview, Lister said his memory is failing and then went on to tell numerous stories of his days in office.
He clearly remembers the day Rockville Centre helped light up much of the Northeast. On Nov. 9, 1965 a famous blackout knocked out power in New York City and most of Long Island. Rockville Centre experienced no interruption and helped to restart the Long Island Lighting Company's generator in Island Park. "It was a thrill," Lister said.
He also remembers one of the most famous Long Island Rail Road crashes in history. It happened right next to his Buick dealership and Lister was one of the first to respond to the scene when two trains collided head-on Feb. 17, 1950. Thirty people were killed and more than 100 were injured. "That was quite a wreck," he said.
Lister remembers using nearby buildings as hospitals and morgues. He helped organize buses to get the uninjured passengers home.
The former mayor had unique preparation for such disasters as director of civil defense for the village during World War II. It was leadership skills he developed in this position and as chief of the RVC Fire Department that made him the choice of his party, Lister said.
"Harry Lister was a very popular person within the community," said former mayor Leonard Sandel, who remembers working on Lister's campaigns. During the last campaign the two handed out records with the Home Rule platform on it for constituents to listen to.
Lister said with a laugh that no matter what group he joined he always seemed to end up as president or in some other leadership role. He credits this to his desire to always make things better.
Some of the other changes that occurred in Rockville Centre during Lister's administration are the development of a recreation center, urban renewal, the elevated train station and the elimination of "dead man's curve" on North Village Avenue. Prior to the straightening of Village just north of Maine Avenue, several serious accidents occurred.
For the same reason, Lister also pushed hard for the separation of grades at the intersection of Merrick Road and Sunrise Highway, a plan that had been ignored for many years.
The Mill River Complex contains a field named after Lister for his efforts to improve the area, which prior to his administration had been a cattail swamp with some garbage thrown in, according to the "History of Rockville Centre" by Preston Bassett and Arthur Hodges.
After he retired in 1967, Lister moved to Florida to relax and catch some fish. He recently moved back to New York to be near his three children and six grandchildren and live in East Meadow. He said his family has been great to him and, except for the walker he can't stand using, life is good.
Lister said he has checked up on the village over the years and said he is proud of the job his successors have done. "Rockville Centre has retained its way of life and it's a delightful way to be."
As for how he lived to be 100, Lister said he can't pin it down. Although, he did say his mother lived to be 103.
