74 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JUNE 2021
OBITUARY
LESTER L. WOLFF
LEGENDARY LI CONGRESSMAN
BY MAIA VINES
Lester L. Wolff, the influential retired
eight-term Democratic congressman
who authored the Taiwan Relations Act
while representing the North Shore
from 1965 through 1981, died May 11 at
Syosset Hospital. He was 102.
The Muttontown resident was the oldest
living former member of Congress at
the time of his passing. His most notable
local accomplishment was having the
federal government declare part of
Oyster Bay a national wildlife refuge,
effectively killing a controversial plan
to build an 8.5-mile-long bridge across
the Long Island Sound from Bayville to
Westchester. The refuge was renamed in
his honor last year.
“I’ve changed careers so many times,
and the reason and need to be active and
keep your mind going in those things
is certainly helpful,” said Wolff in an
interview with the host of NSTV’S Epic
Stories, Elizabeth Johnson, last year.
Wolff, who described himself as a proud,
native New Yorker, was born in Harlem
to Samuel and Hannah Bartman Wolff.
Prior to his congressional career, the former
politician served as major, public relations
officer, and squadron commander
in the Civil Air Patrol. In the 1960s, he
also produced and moderated the public
affairs television series Between the
Lines, in which he interviewed prominent
figures including President John F.
Kennedy.
Shortly after entering the House in
1964, Wolff cosponsored the Medicare
bill which provided health insurance
coverage to people ages 65 and older,
at a time where many seniors did not
have medical insurance. A decade after
Medicare was first signed into law, Wolff
and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy wrote the
Taiwan Relations Act, allowing for the
continuation of commercial, cultural,
and other relations between the U.S.
and Taiwan.
“Lester Wolff was the first congressman
I worked to help elect, before I could
vote, in 1964. I was so happy and proud
when he won,” said composer and Valley
Stream resident Leonard Lehrman in a
statement.
Following his work in Congress, the
statesman became chairman of the Pacific
Community Institute at Touro College.
He won several awards and accolades for
his lifetime achievements, including the
World Peace Prize Top Honor in 2010 and
the highest civilian award in the U.S., the
Congressional Gold Medal, in 2014.
Wolff is survived by his daughter, Diane,
and son, Bruce. His funeral service was
held on May 16 at Temple Emanuel of
Great Neck.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi with Lester Wolff at the U.S. Capitol in
Washington December 10, 2014. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
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