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Joseph L. Borella, longtime St. James farmer, dies

BY STACEY ALTHERR | stacey.altherr@newsday.com

May 2, 2008

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Joseph L. Borella, a longtime farmer who worked the land in St. James for more than 60 years, died Sunday of cancer. He was 89.

Borella was born in Plainview to Italian immigrants, who grew potatoes on their farm. In 1945, around the time he married, his family bought farmland in St. James, where he was to remain his entire life.

His wife, Theresa, a florist by trade, opened a farm stand on the property, which still stands on Edgewood Avenue in St. James. Borella, however, was not in the front selling vegetables, but the one who tilled the ground and planted the crops, from early in the morning until the end of the day, said his daughter, Laura Gallagher.

"He just stopped late last year," Gallagher said. "He was having pain in his back and couldn't go into the field anymore."

The farm still grows and sells a variety of vegetables, including corn, cauliflower and beans.

Gallagher described him as a quiet man who was very involved in his work. "But as a family, we always knew he was there for us," she said. Borella's family lives on the farm together.

About four years ago, some of the farmland was cultivated to start a vineyard, giving the family an opportunity to make a living on a business that may be more profitable over the years than growing vegetables and flowers. This summer, Whisper Vineyards will unveil its first bottles of wine.

"We were hoping to celebrate his 90th birthday in June," Gallagher said. "We were hoping to open the first wine for it."

"He had an amazing, genuine character that you just don't see every day," said his granddaughter Rebecca Gallagher. "He knew how to make you laugh and always how to cheer you up."

Another granddaughter called him the rock of the family. "He was hardworking, dedicated, funny, loving," Jennifer Perrotta said.

In addition to his daughter and wife, he is survived by another daughter, Barbara Perrotta, a son-in-law, Stephen Gallagher, and two other grandchildren. A funeral service is at 10 a.m. today at St. Philip and James Roman Catholic Church in St. James, followed by burial at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Huntington.

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