Stanley Israelite
Public Service, Person by Person
By Mark H. Batterson
CCM Photography
Calling it a career in "public service" would describe what he's done for approaching 50 years, but the term somehow doesn't seem to do justice to what Stanley Israelite really has accomplished in his lifetime.
The 81-year-old former small businessman turned city councilor turned Chamber of Commerce leader turned congressional aide turned economic development maven has been all things to all people in southeastern Connecticut for going on three generations.
Edward Mann, an aide to U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd's office, is one who would know. Mann's role model was Israelite, who handled the same job for Dodd's three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and a time in the U.S. Senate before retiring back to his roots.
There's a plaque on his wall that says, "Either I will find a way or I will make one," Mann says. "It epitomizes Stanley's work ethic. If he's committed to a cause, whether it be economic development, small business or helping someone with a problem with government, if you have Stanley Israelite on your side as an advocate, you have the best because he'll use traditional means to get that help or otherwise."
"Traditional means _ 'or otherwise'." That phrase, from a veteran of behind-the-scenes operations, is what makes it hard to accept Israelite's career as simply being in "public service." From the stories that have become legend to the accolades too numerous to list, it's apparent there's been something more urgent at work in the past five decades.
Dan Dennis, long-time president of the board of the Norwich Community Development Corp. (NCDC), harkens back to the 1960s when Milton L. Jacobson, a practicing attorney in southeastern Connecticut, joined forces with Israelite, who was then president of the Norwich Chamber of Commerce, to push the notion of the Norwich Industrial-Business Park.
"Stanley was very concerned then about industry shifting from the mill towns in the Northeast and wanted to do something to spur economic development and get people jobs," he said.
Out of that effort the NCDC sprung with Israelite and Jacobson, who recently passed away, the early driving forces behind the not-for-profit entity that promotes economic development in the region.
The park, in fact, now bears Israelite's name.
"It was 50 years ago, Israelite said, that his purpose became known to him. He was working in his father's jewelry store when a friend, a registered nurse with the then Norwich State Hospital, suggested he volunteer at the facility.
"I said 'I don't know anything about that,'" he recalled. "She said just befriend somebody. Form a friendship, let them talk and let it happen."
He did, he said, and it did. Friendships with troubled people grew into bonds that led Israelite to counseling them and helping them get on their feet and into the employment. "I was successful," he stated simply.
Though he says his family, or as he calls them "my people, have always been that way," he admitted the experience opened his eyes. "I realized then I didn't like selling jewelry. It changed my life."
He ran for city council, then moved on to the chamber where his ability to persuade others was most tested, he said.
He remembers a consultant saying at a meeting that the Norwich region was entitled to federal economic development funds because it had been identified as "a distressed area."
"But we had to have an idea in order to get the money," he said.
The biggest chore wasn't the idea, Israelite said, of course that later became the industrial/business park. The biggest chore was convincing the owner of the Norwich Bulletin, the city's daily newspaper, whether the community wanted to engage in public discussions about being "a distressed area."
"I don't know whether he was afraid of losing advertising revenue or what, but I just told him whether you want to talk about it or not, we can take advantage of it and help some people," he recalls saying. "I sold him and he later went to Washington, D.C., with me to make our case and get the money. He was one of my strongest supporters after that."
The NCDC was born.
And Israelite, who left Dodd's staff several years ago to return to the NCDC, is still a driving force behind the agency. His base of operations is at the NCDC offices.
"In fact, we had a board meeting just this morning and Stanley had two projects he's been working on that we're going to bring forward," said Dennis.
And projects that will stand a test of time aren't Israelite's only legacy. That legacy includes people like James Sullivan, a member of the Norwich Public Utilities Commission.
"I've known Stan since I was six years old. He's come in and out of my life for 35 years," said Sullivan, whose family has been touched for two generations by Israelite's energy and wisdom.
His uncle, Eugene Sullivan, was a CPA who was also in on the ground floor of the industrial/business park project and an original NCDC member. Sullivan's dad also served on the panel and his aunt, Margaret Wilson, as a dean at Eastern Connecticut State University, also had ties with Israelite.
Sullivan has become the second generation of his family to be spurred to public service by Israelite, whom he calls "a father figure to whom I've turned for advice and counsel."
"I think of the 39 years I've had so far on earth and I think how fortunate I've been to have Stanley Israelite as part of it," he said.
There's that legacy again, not of monuments, but of people committing to people.
When he was enlisted by Dodd to go to Washington as his aide, Israelite said, his wife wondered what he was doing leaving a young family and good job for the back halls of Congress. "I just told her I know [Dodd's] got the heart I like. He's got sensitivity to people that will make him a success," he told her.
In his 24 years in Dodd's office, he said, he never let anyone forget that. "Don't forget the people, I tell them all the time."
At 81, he's still not allowing anyone to forget.
"If I retire and stare out the window, I'll go nuts. I have to stay active, after all there isn't anybody I don't talk to," Israelite said.
A point a current co-worker will never forget. "Sharing office space with Stanley has been an amazing adventure," said Fawn Walker, a 15-year worker for NCDC. "He's great fun and a great friend. Just the best."
"He’s still doing what he loves best," said NCDC board member Dennis. "Stanley's Rolodex - or in today's technical terms, his Blackberry - is priceless."
And what's in a Rolodex, er, Blackberry? People's names!
Connections are one thing, but to network those connections into interaction between people for the betterment of others for nearly 50 years is the goal of any public servant.
"It shows not only in his commitment to economic development and small business, but to people in general. He's always determined to do the right thing to make people's lives better," says Senate aide Mann.
"Helping people - that's what Stanley Israelite's all about," concludes Mann.
"The best minute you spend is the one you invest in people." - Ken Blanchard
Epilogue
Editor's note: Here's another facet of Stanley Israelite from someone who knows him well and may well be prejudiced since she is his daughter. Abby Dolliver is director of special education at LEARN, a regional education service center in southeast Connecticut. (The programs that she is responsible for provide special education options for students from 3-21 years of age, with various disabilities.)
She writes:
There are not too many children that can say that US World News and Report had selected their Dad as one of the most "Indispensable Americans." I know that he was chosen because he has never forgotten the people along the way. This is why he was chosen Citizen of the Year and Citizen of the Decade.
My dad moved to Norwich, Connecticut, as a young child and has lived there ever since. His roots and commitment to the community run deep. He is "indispensable" because he cares about people. He does not just care in thought; his thought is always displayed by actions.
About 45 years ago, my grandparents owned and operated a jewelry store in Norwich. Dad worked there although he knew that this was not his desired profession. A small luncheonette across from the jewelry store was for sale and a woman that worked in the jewelry store mentioned to my dad that her dream was to own and run a luncheonette. The owner of the place wanted an $800 deposit from anyone wishing to purchase the business. In those days $800 was a lot of money. My dad decided to go to talk to the owner of the luncheonette and ask him for a personal loan. Dad told the man that he needed the money and would pay him back as soon as he could. The man loaned my dad $800. In turn my dad gave the $800 to the woman who had wanted to purchase the luncheonette. She went and paid $800 to the owner and made the purchase, fulfilling her dream. Over time, the business was successful and she paid my dad the money she had borrowed. He in turn paid back the original owner. Neither party knew until years later, that he had put this deal together. I think this was where he learned to put the deals together. Later in life these were deals that involved many more people and a lot more money, but this was probably one of the deals that meant the most.
Today, as my dad makes his daily rounds through town, he is expected at each stop. The cleaners, the coffee shop, the bank, the gas station and even the grocery store. If for some reason the schedule changes, there is an inquiry, a call, and a question. Where is Stanley today? Is he OK?
I can only describe his life as a web of people. It is a beautiful web that continues to grow.
"A helping word to one in trouble is often like a switch on a railroad track . . . an inch between wreck and smooth, rolling prosperity." - Henry Ward Beecher
