The long and very active life of a significant Sloatsburg force ended quietly this past Friday when Joseph Miele, 84, died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern. He left behind a living legacy that goes well beyond Sloatsburg and is so woven into the fabric of the community that his accomplishments are essential parts of  life in Ramapo: the fire department, police force, the American Legion Post on Grant Street in Sloatsburg.

“Our community has lost a wonderful individual and an outstanding law enforcement officer,” Sloatsburg Mayor Carl Wright said, calling Miele a symbol of Sloatsburg who defined community and service.

A funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. today at St. Joan of Arc Church, 32 Eagle Valley Road, Sloatsburg and will be followed by a burial service at Maryrest Cemetery, 25 Seminary Road in Mahwah, N.J.

Miele lived an epic life of sorts right here in the rural Ramapo Mountains, a life covered in the pages of the area’s historical documents and thriving institutions. The titles and activities sound remarkable when reeled off — Ramapo Police Chief for 33 years, one-time fire chief and 68-year member of the Sloatsburg fire department, member of the Sloatsburg Ambulance Corp., member of the U.S. Coast Guard who saw action in WWII, graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA., college graduate, husband, father, friend. Mostly Miele is remembered publically as a leader in law enforcement in a community of police officers.

“He was a steadfast rock, a pillar of the community, an example for all of what ‘Service above Self’ meant,” said Rockland County Sheriff James Kralik.

Mayor Wright added, “He set the standard by which other police officers will be judged.”

Miele served his community for so long that it’s easy to lose track of the arc of his life. He will be remembered as a man in motion who lived in his hometown community, where he continued making lasting contributions over the greater part of his life. The above photo, taken in 1964 and part of the Ramapo Police Department’s historical records, shows Miele in his prime, well-suited in the uniform he loved, hip deep into a life still wide open. The Ramapo police station was named in his honor in 1992.

Born in Sloatsburg on Oct. 1, 1927, Miele exemplified the generation who came of age during the Great Depression, many of whom demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit to the benefit of their communities. At 16 he joined the Sloatsburg Fire Department, then journeyed off, joining the U.S. Coast Guard and serving in World War II. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College, now part of the State University of New York in Saratoga. After moving back to Sloatsburg, Miele founded American Legion Post 1643, which has held an annual Santa Claus tradition of near 50 years, driving through Sloatsburg in old-style fire department trucks, bells and sirens ringing, escorting Santa and distributing holiday gifts and greetings.

In his later years, after retiring from the police force in 1997, Miele was a social fixture at village and county events, distributing his good-natured charm and vast local knowledge. The Ramapo community offers a scholarship in his honor that goes to a Suffern High School student who wants to take up law enforcement as a career.

Source: Lohud