Long Island’s Strongest Advocate
LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) has announced the passing of its co-chair, Ernie Fazio, who died on March 13.
Fazio was born on December 29, 1939 in Howard Beach, New York. After graduating from high school, he began his career in the Coast Guard, then later worked for AT&T as a lineman. His first leadership role came after he moved on from AT&T and became a regional steward with the Communications Workers of America at the age of 24 while attending Queens College at night. Becoming restless, he became an insurance salesman in 1970, working with Connecticut General and Mass Mutual.
Fazio soon became involved in local issues. In 1974, he became closely associated with Paul Townsend, who was the editor of Long Island Business News at the time, and assisted Mr. Townsend on various pursuits and objectives, among them advocating for the electrification of the Long Island Rail Road line in Ronkonkoma and the high-speed ferry to New Haven, Connecticut, which never came to pass.
Under the leadership of then-Grumman Vice President Dick Dunne, Mr. Fazio participated in the “Use It or Lose It” campaign to keep Islip MacArthur Airport open when it was being underused.
Fazio built a reputation of being an influential voice for various Long Island Association committees, including Transportation, Small Business, Infrastructure and Energy. He also hosted “Earnestly Speaking,” the name he dubbed for his weekly one-hour radio show, which aired on WHPC, WLIX and later on JVC Broadcasting for a combined 20 years.
As a writer, he was a contributor to several local newspapers on insurance matters and community issues. As a proponent of the Maglev transportation system, he co-authored Maglev America with Gordon Danby and James Powell, who developed superconducting magnets for Maglev. He also wrote hundreds of short essays celebrating important holiday events.
His efforts and his knowledge of the needs of the local communities won him the “Front Page Award” in 1995 from Long Island Business News. He was later given the prestigious “Spirit of Long Island Award” by then-LIA President Matt Crosson. For several years during the 1990s, he was named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Long Islanders.
Fazio was a longtime member of LIMBA. In March 2002, he was asked to lead the organization. During his tenure, LIMBA has hosted hundreds of thought leaders, including elected officials, business executives and nonprofit leaders. He was a strong advocate for Maglev and alternative forms of transportation, called for the construction of a bridge connecting Long Island and Connecticut and joined attorney Irving Like in fighting developer Robert Moses on his proposed four-lane roadway throughout the length of Fire Island.
Fire Island had a special place in his heart, as he would take his family there as often as possible. “He definitely loved going to the beach,” said his son Andrew. “He would take us two to three times a week. He was really big on the beach throughout his life. We would come home covered in sand and sunburned.”
Fazio was married to his first wife, Jane (née Simonovich) for 36 years. They had two sons, Andrew, who currently lives in Maine, and Glenn, a current resident of Huntington. During the early 1970s, they moved into a bungalow in Centerport. While they lived there, he expanded the residence so that there would be more room for his family.
Andrew said his father’s advocacy for the environment influenced his career choice to become a building science specialist. Andrew works as a HERSⓇ (Home Energy Rating System) rater, in which he tests doors on newly constructed homes for energy efficiency. “He was always into alternative energy,” he said of his father. “That was something that influenced me on my career path.”
In 2013, Fazio met Marguerite Moore. They were married in 2018. Marguerite described her late husband as “a Renaissance man” with “a lot of interests. He was a very energetic person. He loved going to the theater,” she said. “We went to the opera a couple of times. He also did community plays.”
Earlier this year, Fazio announced that he planned to step down from his position at LIMBA to enter the music business. Marguerite said that music was his passion. “At the holiday parties, you would always see him grab the microphone,” she said. He would also sing “God Bless America” at local business events, most recently at the Common Sense Strategies meeting on March 9 and the Long Island Contractors Association breakfast on March 13.
Fazio was known among his colleagues to be very outspoken. “He loved to talk about politics and was very knowledgeable about the movements of Congress,” Marguerite said. “He was never shy to express himself and encouraged others to do the same.”
She also remembered Mr. Fazio as a caring husband. “He was very supportive of me, business-wise, and supportive of my hobby as a photographer,” she said. “He always bragged about me a lot.”
In addition to his wife and sons, Fazio is survived by his two daughters-in-law, Jackie and Alexandra, and his four grandchildren, one boy and three girls: Marcus, Mia, Jayden and Sierra.