Joe LaRocco: Herald's 2009 Person of the Year

Joe LaRocco, 91, has lived in Lynbrook for nearly all of his nine decades. He remembers much of the area as farm land.

“It’s always been a quiet village — that hasn’t changed much,” LaRocco reminisced recently. “It grew gradually because people began to realize how great the village was.”

LaRocco has said that although the village has undergone many changes, its residents are what make it a community — and many residents and local officials agree that one of the people who played a large role in making the village what it is today is LaRocco. His dedication to work, community and family make him the ideal choice for the Herald’s 2009 Person of the Year.

“Whether it’s by his attendance at a ribbon-cutting for a new local business or representing generations of Lynbrook veterans,” said Lynbrook Mayor Brian Curran, “Joe has always strived to make this village a better place to live and raise a family. ”

LaRocco was born in Brooklyn, and his family moved to Lynbrook when he was a baby. He graduated from Lynbrook High School in 1937, joined the Army five years later and fought in one of the most storied battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge.

“At that time, I was just thinking I needed to get through,” LaRocco recalled. “Going from Paris to Belgium — I remember a lot of mud and slush. I knew I had to keep moving.”

After leaving the Army in 1945, LaRocco opened a public accounting firm on Merrick Road and Broadway in Lynbrook — where Quiznos is now — and for the next six decades he was a key contributor to the village’s commercial district, serving on the Chamber of Commerce — then known as the Merchants’ Association — from 1945 to the present.

LaRocco met his wife, Alberta Piazza, in 1950, and they were married at St. Rose of Lima in Rockaway Beach. He had just graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in accounting. “He is just a wonderful guy is all I can say,” said Alberta, who’s now 86. “I’ve been very lucky.”

Alberta said that Joe was sometimes strict and sometimes easy-going with their three daughters, but he never missed any of their school events or recitals. “He was always there,” Alberta said. “Never missed a one.”