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Meet Ron Gilbert: Merrick’s Father of the Year
Annual contest honors Ron Gilbert.
“It’s great. I thought it was a joke at first. It’s wonderful,” said Ron Gilbert, when asked how it felt to be named Merrick’s newest Father of the Year.
Mr. Gilbert was nominated by his daughter Allison. “[My dad is] a gracious and caring individual, [who] has proven himself time and time again to not only be a valued citizen of Merrick, but also a father any person would be lucky to call their own,” Allison wrote.
Mr. Gilbert grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in Merrick for 18 years. He has been married to his wife, Debbie, for 28 years, and he recently bought her a puppy for their anniversary, who they named Muffin. Coincidentally, the couple met at a bakery in East Meadow 36 years ago.
The Gilberts have two children, Allison, 22, and Michael, 24. Michael, who is getting married this August, just joined the family business, Rite Supermarket Equipment, in the Bronx.
Running a family business takes up a lot of time, but Mr. Gilbert still finds time to volunteer, especially for Temple Israel of South Merrick.
He has donated his ice cream freezer and antique cotton candy machine (as well as his time in operating both) for the annual Mel Polay Purim Carnival for the past 15 years. He also donated much of the temple’s new commercial kitchen.
Mr. Gilbert coached Merrick/North Merrick Little League games when his children were younger.
Traveling with family is one of Mr. Gilbert’s favorite things to do when he’s not working or volunteering. The family has been to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, California and Canada – just to name a few places.
Life wasn’t always a vacation
When the Gilberts’ children, Michael and Allison, were young, Mrs. Gilbert was sick with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
She was hospitalized on a few occassions, for weeks at a time. Even when she wasn’t in the hospital, she was sometimes left debilitated for days. Mr. Gilbert was left with the full responsibility of caring for the children.
“Anytime Mom was unavailable, my father would clear his busy schedule and make sure he was there to pick up the slack...For my birthday one year, he single-handedly arranged a sleepover for 10 of my closest friends, something not many dads could manage on short notice,” said daughter Allison.
While Mrs. Gilbert was preparing for what could have been a life-threatening or life-saving surgery, Mr. Gilbert would leave work early and travel from the Bronx into Manhattan to be with her.
“It was amazing. He was there all the time. He never left my side,” said Mrs. Gilbert.
When he wasn’t with his wife in the hospital or calling to check in on her, he was taking care of his children and the household chores. He took on laundry, food shopping and carpool responsibilties. Fortunately, Mrs. Gilbert’s surgery was a success, and she made a full recovery.
Allison wrote, “Our family is grateful for both her health and also for Dad not doing the laundry anymore...we no longer all have pink socks.”
This Father’s Day, Mr. Gilbert will not be worrying about laundry. Instead, he will be “staying home with the family, barbecuing and having some fun.”
Happy Father’s Day, Ron!
Mr. Gilbert will receive prizes from many of our local merchants, such as, any pair of sunglasses from Savall Drugs, a $25 gift certificate from Piccolo Ristorante, brunch for two from Hemingway’s, a free week for two from World Gym, two dozen doughnuts from Dunkin’ Donuts, a lube and oil with oil filter from Nor-Bel ServiceCenter, gift for dad from the Printing Emporium, a dozen bagels from the Bagel Café, one propane tank refill from Island Greenery, a heating pad from Drobbin Chiropractic, a man’s haircut and shave from Telestar Haircutters, a free eye exam from Access Optical, a $20 gift certificate from Sportsmania Sportsplex and a one year subscription to Merrick Life.
Also nominated for Father’s Day honors were Bob Phelps by Adam Jassey; Joseph Metzger by his son Douglas; Anthony Cangelosi by his daughter, Lisa Cangelosi Totaro; Brian Caso nominated dad Jeff; Irwin Wyman was nominated by his stepchildren Barbara Smith, Tracey Miller and Melanie Penders; Christopher Blicharski by daughter Magda.
Jodi Scavelli’s first-grade class at Chatterton sent in nominations. The students, Elizabeth, Luke, Vincent, Nicholas, Michael, Averi, Devin, Peter, Emma, Alexa, T.J., Jack, Robert, Owen, Sophia, Molly, Judy, Anna, Sophie, Kayla and Justin all sang the praises of their dads.
Debra Levins’ first-grade class at Chatterton also nominated their dads. Emily, Michael, Bobby, Michael, Isabelle, Daniel, Emmy, Lucas, Andrew, Meghan V., Alexa, Meghan B., Valentina, Joseph, Mia and Nadine all told Merrick Life how great their dads are.
Cinnamon Green’s students sent Merrick Life nominating letters from her fifth- and sixth-grade students. Douglas Hayden, Allison Peralta, Bridget Vecchione, Michael Brillantino, Molly Flaherty, Ryan Scarpa, Michael Kavanagh, Shaheryar Sultan, Diego Palacios, and Kyrstin Shiner wrote about how much they love their dads. One writer nominated his “humorous” uncle.
Angela Kremberg’s fifth-graders from Chatterton School wrote to us about their dads. Michael Kavanagh, Jacob Gochman, Diego Palacios, Emily Sena, Sarah Shakeel, Tristen Kurz, Georgeanne Zimmerman, Ryan Rosenblum, Medel Vergel, Catie Fuschillo, Joseph Power-Jeffers, Kate Porazzo, Anthony Cicchetti, Olivia Sturiano, Matthew Seibert, Jonathan Ellison, Mike Giangregorio, Lisa Lovelidge, Tommy Condon and Tommy Cummings are all looking forward to spending the day with their special guy.
Erin Donohue contributed to this story.
