The Huntington Town Board recently voted to rename the town recycling center for Ernesto “Ernie” Modesto Chea a retired town employee who died of cancer in January 2020.
Chea had fled Cuba as a young child in 1966, and came to Huntington.
He was a long-time Town employee and supervisor of the Recycling Center since 2009, where he made a significant impact on his coworkers and the community, until his retirement in December 2019.
“Ernesto was loved by everybody who went to the center,” Town Councilman Eugene Cook said. “He was a great servant for the center, got the job done well. He took pride in everything he did and did it in a professional manner.”
The date for a renaming ceremony is pending.
The center is at 641 New York Ave., Huntington.