Brookhaven Town Councilman Keith Romaine dies unexpectedly

Brookhaven Town Councilman Keith Romaine of Moriches died Saturday morning at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola from heart failure following complications from pneumonia.

He was 36.

According to family members, Mr. Romaine contracted what they thought was the flu earlier in the week. He was later diagnosed with two forms of pneumonia, both viral and bacterial. The virus then attacked his heart, and doctors were unable to relieve the condition. He died shortly after 11 a.m. on Saturday after his heart failed.

He was admitted to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead on Thursday and was transferred to Winthrop on Friday, according to his family.

Mr. Romaine was elected to his second term on the Brookhaven Town Board on November 3. He was first elected to the board in November 2007.

Mr. Romaine’s campaign manager and friend, Dan Panico of Manorville, said Mr. Romaine had been feeling tired during the recent campaign, but refused to slow down.

“I was with him during the campaign,” Mr. Panico said. “We we’re driving around all night and he was run down, but he wouldn’t stop. He wanted to win the election.”

Mr. Panico said Mr. Romaine’s condition deteriorated quickly by the end of the week.

“He was walking around feeling a little sick,” he said. “He was doing his campaign fund-raising thank you letters on Thursday, and by Saturday at 11 a.m. he was gone.”

Tests for the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, were negative, a family spokesperson said on Sunday.

A wake will be held for Mr. Romaine at Sinnicksons Moriches Funeral home on Main Street in Center Moriches on Monday night, November 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. and on Tuesday, November 17, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 18, at noon at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church on Ocean Avenue in Center Moriches. For more information, call the funeral home at 878-0065.

Family members were unavailable for comment. Mr. Romaine is the son of Suffolk County Legislator Edward P. Romaine.

Mr. Panico remembered his friend as not only a dedicated public servant, but as a positive influence on the people around him.

“Keith not only fought for what he believed in, he loved to laugh,” Mr. Panico said. “He had a good personality, and he was a gentleman. He was even a better person than people give him credit for.”