L&L Camera store owner Leonard Totora, 79, dies

Leonard R. Totora Jr., a camera store owner and Korean War veteran who championed veterans causes, died Monday at Huntington Hospital of pancreatic cancer. He was 79 and a lifelong resident of Huntington.

Born Dec. 22, 1930, in a home where the Huntington Post Office now sits, Totora, known as Lenny, would become one of the most recognizable figures in the town, family and friends said, through his work on veterans issues and as the owner of L&L Camera, a store that has served the community for five decades.

"He was instrumental in advancing the cause of all veterans issues," said Anthony DeFilippis, a longtime friend who considered Totora a mentor. "He also taught me the importance of looking out for your community and the people around you, I have great respect and admiration for Mr. Totora."

After high school and hoping to see the world, Totora joined the Army and served in Korea as a photographer attached to the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team.

When the war ended, he returned to Huntington and, in 1956, married his sweetheart, Louise Pisacano, and opened his camera store.

"My father was trying to think up a name for the store and couldn't," said his son, Leonard R. Totora III of Huntington Station. "So my mother said, 'What about L and L Camera, for Lenny and Louise?' And that's what he went with."

Totora was a driving force in the creation of Huntington's Korean and Vietnam War memorials. He was also key in the restoration of the World War II veterans remembrance monument. He was a charter member of the town's veterans advisory board and, at the time of his death, was vice chairman and the board's liaison to the town supervisor's office.

"He was one the most supportive persons that I have met for veterans and their needs," said Town Supervisor Frank Petrone. "He was a unique personality who was able to rally people, bring them together and make them feel a part of something."

Totora was a eucharistic minister at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Huntington, where he also sang in the choir.

In addition to his son, Totora is survived by his wife, Louise; a daughter, Marie Zonin of Huntington; a brother, Nicholas Totora of St. Louis, Mo., and five grandchildren. Another daughter, Angela, died in 2002.

A wake will be held Thursday and Friday at MA Connell Funeral Home in Huntington Station from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral details are pending.