William B. Wise, Westbury Village trustee, dies at 85

William B. Wise was only about 10 when his work helped end racial segregation at Prospect Street School, leading to the hiring of its first Black teacher and a visit from a future Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, his family said.

As part of a local NAACP campaign, young Bill distributed informational materials inside his Hempstead school, and Marshall, then a prominent civil rights attorney, came and praised the project and eventually, the student population became desegregated. The campaign made a lasting impression on Wise, recounted younger brother Sylvester Wise, who also passed out the flyers.

“This had an impact on my brother to seek a political position where he could have a greater effect on the community at large,” said Wise, of Manhattan, who said they both became NAACP operatives.

“He was so busy helping other people, he always gave the impression he never had any problems. People would come and ask for this and that. ‘Can you give my kid a job?’ ‘Get me a lawyer; I can’t afford to have one.’ ”

Wise, a retired Nassau County deputy sheriff, was a Westbury Village trustee when he died Sept. 13 of a heart attack after coping with cancer. He was 85.

He had been a “game changer” his entire life, family and friends said. In Westbury, he carved out a reputation for watching over residents’ quality of life as the village developed, having joined the planning board in 1989 before becoming a trustee in 2006.

He was the vice chair of the Nassau County commission created in 2010 to help revamp the property tax system and was the recipient of several honors, including from the March of Dimes. Even in his 80s, he still had the energy to help a young entrepreneur nab a grant to start a janitorial school, his family said.

But always, Wise felt the responsibility of being Black, those who knew him said.

It fueled him as a correction officer at the Nassau County jail, where he worked from 1960 to 1989. Long before education and job programs became the norm in jails, Wise started them for inmates, many of them Black men or others he knew from the neighborhood. Of note was the printing press and copy machine shop he set up in the mid-’70s; three years in, he reported, none of the graduates had returned to jail and all had gotten jobs, according to a 1976 news article.

He was also active in 100 Black Men of America, often accompanying children to the organization’s national competitions and mentoring the young, according to Phil Andrews, president of 100 Black Men of Eastern New York.

“He expected the best in everyone,” Andrews said. “He was a connector of people and would get on the phone in a minute for you to help you solve a problem.”

From a young age, Wise had a knack for approaching people. He grew from a shoe shine boy into a business kid in demand by local merchants. They used whatever services he offered, from waxing floors to cleaning at car dealerships to getting workers lunch.

“They looked for him and trusted him,” his brother said. “He was an individual who knew how to deal with various collectives.”

One of his most rewarding relationships was his 63-year marriage to Barbara Bates, his high school sweetheart, family members said. He never forgot Valentine’s Day gifts for her and their two daughters, and family time was filled with outings, from concerts to sports events at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“We would go see a play every Thursday as a family,” said his daughter Sherri Wise Johnson, of Augusta, Georgia.

Wise attended Adelphi University, where he got a bachelor of science degree in sociology, then earned a master’s degree in public administration at Long Island University. But on Friday nights, he and Barbara typically hosted parties at home.

“He loved gathering at social events and networking,” said his daughter Wendy Wise Whitfield, of Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. “He understood that how the world turns is about connections.”

Around the village, Mayor Peter Cavallaro said Wise always had a kind word, a smile and a “laser focus” on making sure the right thing was being done for those they served: “He was always everywhere and he knew everybody.”

Besides his brother and daughters, Wise is survived by his sisters, Valerie Wise and Cynthia Wise-Wilcox, both of Hempstead. His wife died last year.

A funeral service was held Sept. 20 at Union Baptist Church in Hempstead.