Town to Name Acocella Citizen of the Year

Who better to represent the town on Great to Live in Harrison Day than Joseph Acocella?

The Town of Harrison will announce Thursday night that Acocella, Harrison's much-admired former town clerk, will be honored with this year's Citizen of the Year Award more than two months after his sudden death. The award is given to to a Harrison resident every year as part of the It's Great to Live in Harrison Day celebration.

"We're speechless," said Laura McCorry, Acocella's sister who will be in Harrison with the rest of Acocella's immediate family to receive the award Monday in his name. "It's unbelievable how this community has come together to support Joseph."

Acocella served nearly two terms as Harrison's town clerk. Before that he served on the Harrison Board of Education, worked in the Harrison Police Department and even volunteered as a Harrison firefighter.

Acocella died on Aug. 8 at the age of 30 after a lifelong battle with the rare spine condition Lumbar Sacral Agenesis. He had also fought kidney and heart conditions throughout his life, but it wasn't his disability that earned him this award—it was his ability to do so much in so little time.

McCorry said this is the latest in an outpouring of support the family has received since Acocella's passing. She said her parents have received letters from Acocella's college dean and elementary school principal, among others. Town hall and parts of Halstead Avenue were completely closed for his funeral, and the affect of losing the man many called a hero can still be felt in almost every corner of town.

"It's overwhelming to know he was loved so much, and he touched so many lives," McCorry said, adding that she is still brought to tears every day when she thinks about her brother. "It's just unbelievable that he's gone, it's a huge piece to the puzzle in our lives that's missing," she said.

Acocella's absence is still felt in town hall, where former co-workers said they couldn't think of anyone more deserving of the award created to honor Harrison's finest resident.

"He loved his job and he just took such pride in it, everything he did he did for the community," said Diana Minishi, who works in the town clerk's office. "He just did all that he could and if anyone deserves it, he did."

When asked what Acocella himself would think about receiving the award, his sister said one of the most well-known people in town would probably downplay the whole thing—he was never one to take credit or gloat.

"He was just living every day," McCorry said. "He just wanted to live and do what he loved to do."

Fortunately for Harrison, what Acocella loved to do was make the town a better place. That, among other things, makes him the perfect man for citizen of the year.