The Chamber of Commerce of the Willistons and the Williston Park Rotary Club honored late civic activist Nicholas “Bud” Haller last Thursday night during a ceremony that featured the planting an evergreen tree by the village gazebo in his memory.
Members of Williston Park American Legion Post 144 presented the colors and Deacon Joe Connelly from St. Aidan Church offered an invocation.
“We thank you for ‘Bud’ Haller. We hope this tree will be a symbol of the stability of the roots he gave us,” Connelly said.
“He was a stalwart in this community,” added Nancy Zolezzi, a longtime chamber member and a former mayor of East Williston.
Zolezzi recounted Haller’s service in the military and his service to Williston Park as a past president of the Williston Park Rotary Club, Williston Park deputy mayor and library board member.
“Above all, he was a friend to all, a true gentleman full of grace,” Zolezzi said. “When you look at this tree, think of Bud and what he did for this community and what we seek to build in this community.”
Williston Park Rotary President Karen Wiley presented a bouquet of flowers to Haller’s widow, June,.
Raymond Haller, who carries on his father’s work in the insurance business as president of the Haller-Zaremba Insurance Agency, delivered a vote of thanks for the memorial to his father.
“I am humbled. My family is humbled. I miss my dad,” he said, his voice quavering with emotion. “But he left his mark on everyone he met.”
Nassau County Clerk Maureen O’Connell, a Williston Park native, said, “Buddy was a serious role model for everyone in the community of how to be a spiritual, community-minded man.”
Williston Park Trustee Kevin Rynne, representing the village board of trustees, presented a commendation to the family. He recalled that when he moved to Williston Park, Haller was the first neighbor to greet him.
Bud Haller, who died in January at the age of 83 years, moved to Williston Park with his wife, June, in 1955 while he was managing the bond and burglary department for Lumberman’s Mutual Insurance Co.
He immediately became involved with St. Aidan Church, where he served as an usher, was a member of the Holy Name Society and volunteered as a CYO football coach.
He then got involved in local government, serving as a trustee and deputy mayor of the Village of Williston Park from 1970 to 1972.
Haller was a life member of the Knights of Columbus in Mineola, a member of the Corpus Christi Council, past vice president of The Chamber of Commerce of the Willistons, and a longtime member American Legion Williston Post 144.
Haller left Lumberman’s Insurance to join his uncle Pete’s insurance business, the Haller Agency, in Queens in 1960. After his uncle died, Haller moved the insurance business to Williston Park in 1974.
Raymond Hall began working with his father in the agency in 1989 and Nicholas eventually sold the business to his son two years before he retired.
Raymond’s two brothers Marc and Thomas also attended the ceremony with their mother and other family members.
“I think it’s wonderful. He really would have liked this,” June Haller said as she looked at the evergreen tree.
“He’s smiling down,” Marc Haller said.
Raymond Haller said the location of the tree just across the street from his Hillside Avenue office would make the honor given to his father all the more meaningful.
“The highlight is to look out my window every morning and know it’s dedicated to my dad,” he said.
