Community mourns 'the mayor of East Meadow'

Leon Drucker, a deeply rooted fixture in East Meadow who almost never missed a Fire Department event or a high school football game, was a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club and was hailed by many as the community’s biggest supporter — its unofficial mayor — died on Oct. 6 after months of declining health. He was 73.

Drucker’s presence at local events dated back to his teenage years in East Meadow, and made him a household name among generations of residents. He spent a large part of his life in group homes, the last three decades at the ACLD — short for Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities Inc. — on Franklin Avenue.

Though he faced mental challenges, those who knew him insist that he was never defined by his limitations, but rather by the ways in which he exceeded them. Lauded for his permanent smile, his gentle soul, his passion for fire service and his ability to get anywhere on Long Island on his bicycle or public transportation, Drucker became one of the most popular figures in East Meadow.

“He was East Meadow’s biggest fan,” said Rich Howard, the principal of East Meadow High School, who first became acquainted with Drucker as an elementary school student, when Drucker attended East Meadow High football games. Just days after his death, Howard said, “It’s a part of East Meadow history that’s now lost. It’s gone.”

A fixture in the EMFD

Drucker was best known within the East Meadow Fire Department. For more than 50 years, he would show up at the department’s several firehouses on an almost daily basis to spend time with volunteers. The department issued him a uniform, and he was also employed there as a cleaner.

“There are no honorary members of the East Meadow Fire Department,” Gary North, a member for 39 years, said as he fought back tears. “But if you had to look for one, he was probably the closest thing.”

Drucker would seek out Fire Department parades across the Island, North said, and find a way to get there. “One week he might be out in Patchogue, another week he’d be in Hempstead,” he said. “Next week he’d be in Oceanside.”