Joe Gergela, 66, remembered as passionate advocate for Long Island farmers

Joe Gergela, whose name became synonymous with the Long Island Farm Bureau in his 26 years as its executive director, died March 25, 2022 at his home in Boynton Beach, Florida. He was 66 years old.

Gergela was a fierce advocate for Long Island farmers and the preservation of farming on Long Island.

“The Farm Bureau was his life for many, many years,” his wife Donna said in an interview Tuesday.

And in many ways, Gergela was the Farm Bureau.

“Long Island Farm Bureau and Long Island’s farmers have lost a friend and mentor and we will all miss Joe who was such a big part of our lives,” said Rob Carpenter, Gergela’s successor as director of the L.I. Farm Bureau.

“Joe took on many challenges head-on for the farmers — from land use rights, zoning issues, farm uses, regulations, right-to-farm issues, farmland preservation, and so many more things, too numerous to list,” Carpenter said. “Today’s farmers are still benefitting from the legacy Joe created and the laws that Joe helped to enact.”

His friends and associates recalled his effectiveness as an advocate.

“For so many years, he was the face of Long Island farming and a staunch advocate for the agricultural community,” former State Senator Ken LaValle said. “His advocacy led to the adoption of laws and programs aimed at retaining farmland and helping the farm community thrive,” he said.

“Joe Gergela was the voice of the farmer and the agricultural industry from Riverhead to Albany to Washington DC,” Assembly Member Fred Thiele said. “He worked tirelessly to protect farmland as a resource, agriculture as an industry, and most importantly the farm families and the traditions that make the East End special,” he said. “He was often the voice of consensus to get things done, as he did as a stakeholder in helping to pass the Community Preservation Fund and the Central Pine Barrens Act,” Thiele said.

Riverhead Councilman Frank Beyrodt, a sod farmer and past-president of the L.I. Farm Bureau, said Gergela “stood for the preservation of farming on Long Island. Period.” Beyrodt said he got to spend a lot of time with Gergela and the two “forged a great relationship.” Gergela had a talent for getting people to come together to make sure farming would continue on Long Island.

“He came along at the right time for the farm community,” Beyrodt said. “He was a force to be reckoned with, that’s for sure.”

“Joe was one of the last of the great ones,” Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said. “He was always straightforward, always honest. You knew where you stood with him — and in my line of work, that’s refreshing,” he said. “He had a deep commitment. He made sure agriculture was always foremost on our minds.”

Gergela understood that farmers had to adapt to survive, said Bill Talmage, scion of a multigenerational Baiting Hollow farm family.

Gergela was the son of a Jamesport potato farmer. After his grandfather died, Gergela quit college after two years to work on the family farm.

“Life was good until 1982,” Gergela recalled just before his retirement in 2014. Then a freak April snowstorm followed by torrential rains and plummeting potato prices brought his family to the brink of financial ruin.

“At the end of the day, we lost a quarter-million dollars,” Gergela said in 2014.

He spoke of his shock one evening that autumn when he went out to close the barn doors.

“I found my father with a rope over the beam in the barn,” Gergela recalled in a thick voice. He had arrived in time to prevent his father from carrying out his intention, but it was a wake-up call.

Gergela later told his father he should sell the farm and find other work. A diabetic since age 7, he knew he would not be able to sustain the farm for the long haul. “I told him, ‘The reality is I’m not going to be able to do the work that you have done and for me it’s probably a good idea to do something else.’ So we farmed the next few years to get out of debt and we were able to sell the farm,” Gergela said.

Talmage said he knew Gergela while he was still farming. They were both members of Long Island Young Farmers and Ranchers, he said. “You had to be under 30.” Talmage was already a L.I. Farm Bureau board member and Gergela would eventually become executive director.

“I remember when they had to sell the farm. I was in the process of adapting from potatoes to greenhouses,” Talmage recalled. “I told my grandfather, ‘A five-pound bag of ice cubes costs more than a five-pound bag of potatoes. It’s not coming back this time.’”

“Joe helped a lot of people. He had a good life. That’s really all we can hope for — to have a good life, and help people,” Talmage said.

“We will never forget all of his contributions to help ours become a viable industry,” said Long Island Wine Council President Kareem Massoud of Paumanock Vineyards in Aquebogue. “He was a tireless advocate.”

Massoud, a former L.I. Farm Bureau board member, and other colleagues spoke of Gergela’s optimistic and positive personality. “He was always fun to be around. He made you laugh,” Massoud said. “Joe was always in good spirits, eve when facing incredible hardship himself. He was an inspiration.”

Beyrodt said Gergela made him laugh a lot. “He was a lot of fun.”

Mitchell Pally, CEO of the Long Island Builders Institute and a close personal friend of Gergela’s, recalled meeting him when Gergela enrolled in a political science class Pally taught at Stony Brook University, where Gergela finished his bachelor’s degree.

“We became close friends,” Pally said. “We played a lot of golf together. Our wives became good friends. It was a great relationship,” he recalled. “He is sorely missed.”

While his “main focus” was agricultural issues, Pally said, “he worked on things that helped Long Island as a whole.”

Among other things, Gergela served on the board of directors of Peconic Bay Medical Center.

Andrew Mitchell, president and CEO of Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation and former president and CEO of the medical center, remembered Gergela as “a dedicated PBMC board member, whose passion for local farming and unique interest in politics combined to create a powerful and hugely constructive force for our community.”

Joseph Michael Gergela III was born in Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport on Nov. 22, 1955, the son of Joseph Jr. and Grace Elizabeth “Betty” (Hills.)

He married Donna Bieselin on Feb. 5, 1977 at St. John’s Church in Center Moriches. They had two children and lived in Manorville before moving to Boyton Beach Florida after Gergela retired from the L.I. Farm Bureau in 2014.

Gergela loved to golf and, above all else, loved spending time with his grandchildren, his wife said.

In addition to his wife of 45 years, he is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth Mittenthal (Joshua) of Boca Raton, Florida, and his son Jonathan (Samantha) of Baltimore, and by his grandsons, Grayson and Cayden Mittenthal. He is also survived by his siblings, Cynthia Kissner, Douglas and John. He was predeceased by his sister Joanne Smith in 2011.

The family plans a celebration of life this summer.

Memorial donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.