Friendship recalled

Agudah Israel of the Five Towns said in a statement that its congregants repeatedly witnessed Mayor Parisi’s “deep dedication and legendary work ethic for the public good [that] trumped all else.

“Political affiliation and personal needs were thrust aside when the issue was what was best for the people lucky enough to live in his village,” Agudah said.

The Jewish Star’s Bookworm columnist, Alan Jay Gerber, a resident of Cedarhurst, observed that Parise “stood up against those Archie Bunker bigots who sought to stem the growth of the Jewish community in the Five Towns.”

“It was a brave action that could have cost him, especially in those earlier years, his political career,” said Gerber. “I suspect that his war years experiences, especially his presence in Buchenwald at liberation, were a major factor in this regard.”

Mayor Parise recalled the liberation of Buchenwald: Page 16.