Assemb. Paul Harenberg, 79, advocate for elderly, dies

Former Assemb. Paul Harenberg, a tireless advocate for the elderly and a pioneer in the fight to bring public power to Long Island, has died.

Harenberg, 79, of Bayport, who had Alzheimer's, died Thursday at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, with his wife, Sylvia, and daughter, Jennifer, at his side.

Harenberg not only sponsored the bill that created the Long Island Power Authority, but as longtime chairman of the Assembly aging committee, he championed numerous bills to protect seniors, including EPIC - Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage - which gives prescription drug coverage to moderate- and low-income elderly.

"If he thought something was worth doing, he was willing to try, even if some people thought it was pie in the sky," said Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), dean of the Long Island Assembly delegation. "He was not afraid of taking something on big and giving his best shot."

Harenberg also won funding to create the Long Island Veterans Nursing Home at Stony Brook University, and sponsored bills that brought sliding property tax exemptions for seniors and led efforts to eliminate age discrimination in employment and housing.

"If anything good happened for seniors in New York, it was because of Paul," said former Democratic Rep. George Hochbrueckner, who as an assemblyman once roomed and carpooled to Albany with Harenberg.

Harenberg also once chaired a subcommittee to deal with problems caused by dumping mental patients into communities. Friends say he was the Assembly sponsor of the landmark law with GOP Sen. Frank Padavan that took steps to create a process to locate group homes.

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"Paul was not only a bright man but a trustworthy person who was all about creating good policy," said State Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), the Senate sponsor of the LIPA bill. "He treated people the way they should be treated. I don't ever remember him raising his voice."

Harenberg was born in New York City. He met Sylvia shortly after she moved here from England, while they were working in a New Jersey department store as students during a Christmas break. They married in 1953.

A graduate of Columbia University, Harenberg taught high school social studies for 19 years before winning an upset election by 386 votes in 1974 in the aftermath of Watergate. He retired in 2000 for health reasons.

Besides his wife and daughter, Jennifer, of Sayville, survivors include his sister, Eleanor Menzel of Rivervale, N.J.; three sons, Paul of Denver, Peter of Coram and David of Bayport, and five grandchildren.

A wake will be held Saturday and Sunday at Raynor and D'Andrea Funeral Home in West Sayville from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m.; services at Sayville Congregational Church at 11 a.m. Monday. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Long Island Alzheimer's Foundation, 5 Channel Dr., Port Washington, NY 11050.