Rescue mission founder Rev. Jimmie Gaines dies at 79

The Rev. Jimmie Gaines, who founded the Helping Hand Rescue Mission in Huntington Station 45 years ago to serve the needy, died Friday, five days short of his 80th birthday.

The cause of death was congestive heart failure.

Gaines and his wife, Rose Marie, started the mission in 1965, shortly after they were married, to provide food and religious support to those in the community.

"We saw a need in the community," his widow said. "And God called on us."

Gaines, born in Talladega, Ala., the eldest of three siblings, joined the Marines just out of high school and was stationed in places including Quantico Beach, Va., and Okinawa, Japan, as a chaplains' assistant. After he left the service he joined the Franciscan Order and ministered to the needy in locations including Minneapolis and in Washington State. In the early 1960s he left the order and began ministering independently in Alabama and Florida.

He then moved to New York City to preach on the streets and evangelize, his family said and, in February 1965, met Rose Marie Meringola. They married in September of that year and moved to Rose Marie's hometown of Huntington Station. With the $125 left from their honeymoon, they rented a building on New York Avenue, bought cleaning supplies and opened the mission, said their daughter, Kim Gaines, executive director of the mission.

"He was an awesome man of faith," she said. "His vision was to serve God in whatever way he called him to and to love people and he did that."

The mission's current Broadway site is its third location. It provides household items, community and children's programs to hundreds of families a year, Gaines' family said. Gaines was at the mission every day until last week, they said.

Gaines also held several jobs over the years, including as a toll taker at the Triborough Bridge, a landscaper at Old Westbury Gardens and driver of a catering truck.

"We will miss him so much but know that his work and legacy will live on here in Huntington and in the hearts and lives of those he loved and served," Kim Gaines said.

In addition to his widow and daughter, survivors include a son, Matt Gaines of Wilmington, N.C., and four grandchildren.

A viewing will be held today at M.A. Connell Funeral Home in Huntington Station from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. with a memorial service at 8 p.m. Burial will be at Melville Cemetery.