'Selfless' Anthony Monteleone recognized for community service

Service above self.

Mount Kisco’s Anthony J. Monteleone is the very embodiment of that phrase, according to the folks who gathered recently to celebrate the 91-year-old community pillar.

As an active member of the local Rotary Club for 55 years, “Tony” not only coordinated countless charity events; he also played many other roles that helped improve the lives of others.

Those contributions included successfully shepherding the final fundraising drive to rebuild the local public library in 2009 at a time when the village — and the rest of the world — was struggling through the Great Recession.

A small bronze plaque has been installed in the library’s gardens in Monteleone’s honor.

“Tony has been a staple in the community forever,” said Rotary president Dan Taplitz. “The selfless things he’s done align perfectly with our motto: ‘Service above self.’”

(The Rotary Club is a local chapter of Rotary International, a global service organization that unites business, professional, and community leaders to perform humanitarian service and build goodwill.)

At the Rotary Club event on Thursday, Sept. 24, state Sen. Pete Harckham (D-South Salem) presented Monteleone with the NYS Commendation Award for his “spirit of community, philanthropy, and leadership.”

The following Thursday, Oct. 1, was declared “Anthony Monteleone Day” in Westchester. His name appeared on the jumbotron at the County Center in White Plains.

Among the dignitaries who turned out on that blessedly sunny day to honor “Tony” were Mayor J. Michael Cindrich, Village Manager Ed Brancati, state Assemblyman Chris Burdick’s representative Heather Lackey, county Legislator Erika L. Pierce, and village Trustees Tom Luzio and Heather Bryant.

"I thank the Mount Kisco Rotary for honoring Tony Monteleone, a true patriot, a community volunteer who always advocated for the betterment of the village," Cindrich said later.

Also in the cheering section were members of the library’s board of trustees, the local Italian Club, the Mount Kisco Historical Society, and the Chamber of Commerce.

Of course, fellow Rotarians turned out in droves, as did many friends, family members and well-wishers.

Two of Monteleone’s children, Gregory and Diane, happily posed with their dad for photos in front of the library. An old high school pal from Brooklyn was front and center as well.

(Monteleone’s wife, Helen, passed away in 2003. The couple raised three sons and a daughter and had many loving grandchildren. Family was of utmost importance to him, he once told a reporter.)

Now retired as an attorney, he was the founder of the law firm Monteleone & Monteleone, which has transitioned to Gettinger Waldinger Monteleone Gushue & Hollis, LLP, where his son Gregory now practices.

“Tony” – only his mother called him Anthony – spent 22 years in the U.S. Navy. He retired with the rank of captain.

A veteran of the Vietnam War, he participated in an Honor Flight last spring, a free, one-day trip provided to American military veterans to visit their war memorials in Washington, D.C.

Those “who have served so faithfully and courageously in wars in which our Nation's freedom was at stake, as well as in the preservation of peace during peacetime, deserve a special salute from this Legislative Body,” the state Assembly’s resolution read in May.