Former Riverhead town supervisor Jim Stark died yesterday at Peconic Bay Medical Center. The cause was lung cancer, his family said.
Stark, 78, was elected supervisor in 1995, after serving five years as town councilman and one year as acting supervisor when then-supervisor Joseph Janoski fell ill. He also served as deputy supervisor under Janoski before assuming the supervisor’s role.
Stark was a native son and successful local businessman brought a no-nonsense, business-oriented approach to government at a time when the town was struggling to recover from a deep economic recession.
During his tenure on the town board, the town adopted special zoning that allowed for the development of Tanger Outlets, an attraction that now draws in excess of 12 million people to Riverhead annually. While supervisor he played key roles that ultimately led to the development of the Long Island Aquarium and the revitalization of the Suffolk Theater. As supervisor and chairman of the Riverhead Community Development Agency, he led the initial efforts to market the former Grumman property as the Calverton Enterprise Park in 1996 prior to Riverhead taking formal ownership in 1998.
Stark was known for his plain-spoken and sometimes brash demeanor. He was not one to back down from a fight. After losing his 1997 re-election bid to Riverhead shoe store owner Vinny Villella, Stark served for one year as an assistant to the Suffolk County Economic Development commissioner. He was an outspoken critic of the budgets and financial policies of his successors in the corner office at Riverhead Town Hall, including fellow Republican, current incumbent Sean Walter. Stark ran unsuccessfully for the supervisor’s job again in 2007, challenging incumbent Phil Cardinale.
“He was a strong leader — a staunch conservative who ran town government like a business,” Walter said. The supervisor acknowledged “ups and downs” in his relationship with his predecessor but said Stark had his “unwavering respect.”
“Jimmy always had his priorities straight,” said former councilman Vic Prusinowski, who served with Stark on the town board in the 1990s. “What was good for the town came first. He always had his heart in the right place for the Town of Riverhead,” Prusinowski said. “He cared deeply about the community.”
Councilwoman Jodi Giglio credits Stark with pushing her into the political arena. “Jim was a friend, a leader, a mentor and someone I truly respected,” Giglio said in a statement provided by the Stark family.
A native son, Stark was dedicated to his community and an active volunteer for many local organizations. He was past president of the Riverhead Kiwanis, a member of the Elks Lodge 2044, a former member of the board of directors of Central Suffolk Hospital (now Peconic Bay Medical Center) and a former trustee of the Riverhead Central School District.
In recent years, he was instrumental in the establishment of the nonprofit Heidi’s Helping Angels, named for Heidi Behr, a Riverhead ambulance volunteer who died at the age of 23 in a tragic ambulance crash in May 2005. Among other things, the group awards annual scholarships in Behr’s memory to graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated a dedication to community service.
“I’ve led a full, productive and rewarding life,” Stark said in a phone conversation last week. “I’ve been very blessed with a loving wife and a wonderful family, which mean more than anything else,” he reflected. “I’ve had a chance to try and make a difference in my community and I tried and I hope I did.” Having been in and out of the hospital a few times recently, he said he was feeling better and felt optimistic. But frank as always, Stark spoke bluntly about his prognosis. “I’ve had a long life. It’s been good.” Then the former supervisor — an unapologetic smoker back in the day — laughed gruffly and said, “I guess I should have quit smoking.”
“He was an amazing father, extraordinary,” his daughter Catherine said this morning. “He was a pillar of strength for so many. The gift he gave us all was his unwavering devotion to family and friends.”
She said her father had his entire family with him yesterday at Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he was admitted on Sunday. “We all got to say goodbye.”
The youngest of three sons born to William C. and Mary Stark, he attended Riverhead schools and then LaSalle Military Academy. He earned a bachelor of science degree in economics from Villanova University and then served in the U.S. Army, from which he was honorably discharged in 1960. Stark was the owner of Storage Town East Inc. and was the president of Farmers Exchange Co. Inc., a wholesale produce company, from 1970 to 1998.
Stark is survived by his wife of 50 years, Patricia, and their four children: Catherine, of Riverhead, Mark of Riverhead, James and his wife Patricia of Dix Hills, and Joanna Beall and her husband Corey of Honalulu, Hawaii. He is also survived by seven grandchildren: Caelyn, Kelsey, Keaghon, Amanda and Paige Stark and Rebecca and Cooper Beall; and by one great-grandson, Keaghon James Stark.
He was predeceased by his brothers, William Bruce Stark and John Douglas Stark Sr.
Wake and funeral arrangements have not yet been set.
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