Denis Dillon

It was a most impressive event. Perhaps 800 people filled St. Agnes Cathedral on Aug. 19 to pray and say goodbye to the man who had the courage to stick to his convictions, even at the cost of a job he had held for over three decades with honor.

What made it so impressive was the presence of the many uniformed officers standing at attention as Denis Dillon’s flag draped coffin was carried into the church. Denis, who came from the Bronx, had been a member of the force and a federal prosecutor before becoming Nassau County’s District Attorney.

The service was moving from start to

finish — this man deserved the kind of respect his church was showing him. He brought honor to his religion and fought for his beliefs. Barbara Dillon spoke about her father with much love and warmth, reflecting the quality of the man. She spoke of his appreciation of poetry and music and recalled that her mother had often helped rush the family when they were getting ready to go out, joking to come quickly, because dad was sitting at the piano.

Ed Grilli, Dillon’s old friend and public relations man performed the second reading from Romans 8. There were many political figures including Representative Peter King (R -Seaford) and Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey. The most telling statement came from his old friend and campaign manager Arthur Diamond, now a New York Supreme Court justice, who had questioned Denis on his staunch and stubborn insistence to take a stand against abortion, even if it caused him to lose to Kathleen Rice, the current D.A.

I knew Denis when I lived in Rockville Centre. A memorable event occurred with a colorful resident at that time, Dr. Ralph Sorley, a muckraker who constantly sat in on local meetings, fighting the leaders who were active in the community. A physician, Sorley seemed to love political action a great deal more than the practice of medicine, and he enjoyed bringing the foibles of numerous officials to the public’s attention. There were many newspaper accounts of his outright criticism of Rockville Centre’s longtime mayor, Harry Lister. Sorley would come to his meetings and make outrageous remarks about him. Sorley was also the reason then-District Attorney William Cahn left his job, giving Denis the chance to run for it. Sorley was invited to tell the Congress of the United States about some of his findings. After that, he put his efforts into helping Denis run for Cahn’s job.

The most impressive tribute to Denis came as Nassau County police bagpipers marched and played as his coffin was carried from the church to the waiting hearse,. The crowd stood at attention, paying him their final respect.

The last thing I heard as my daughter and I stopped at a small pizza shop around the corner from the cathedral came from a man seated near us who said he remembered Denis well. “He would often stop by with someone who needed help, just to get him a meal,” he recalled. Yes, that was certainly a fitting way to remember a fine man.

Harriet Epstein has written for Long Island newspapers and consumer magazines for 25 years, as a local weekly newspaper editor, and an associate publisher of the Long Island edition of the first tristate consumer magazine. She worked for other magazines in promotions, and wrote travel and book reviews, conducted interviews and sold advertising. She was also active in the Long Island Association. As president of her own company, she wrote and publicized the work of numerous writers, artists and political figures, and appeared frequently with them on radio and television. She has written for The New York Times,The Humanist Magazine, Dan’s Papers, Mountain Living, 60 Plus newspapers and several health publications. She also taught writing at CW Post College and Roslyn High School, and continues freelance writing and lectures. She has just finished a book about her son, Eppy, and his popular Long Island nightclub, My Father’s Place, and she also writes a monthly column for the North Shore Towers paper.