Romaine family loses son

Keith Romaine at a Brookhaven Town Board meeting earlier this month.

Brookhaven Town Councilman Keith Romaine, who just 11 days ago was re-elected to a second term, died Saturday morning from pneumonia complications at Winthrop-University Hospital Medical Center in Mineola, according to a spokesman for his family.


Mr. Romaine, 36, was recently diagnosed with viral pneumonia which attacked his heart and significantly weakened it, according to family spokesman Dan Panico. Mr. Panico said Mr. Romaine did not feel well toward the end of his campaign. A week after the election, he went to the doctor because he wasn’t getting better, Mr. Panico said, adding that his friend “was overtaken suddenly and quickly.”


Mr. Romaine, a Moriches resident, is the son of Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine. He was first elected to the Brookhaven Town Board in 2007.


“He was very sick, but he did not want to miss the Town Board meeting” in Brookhaven on November 10, Mr. Panico said.


He was tested for H1N1, or swine flu, but the test came back negative, according to Mr. Panico.


Mr. Romaine visited a doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was admitted to Peconic Bay Hospital Medical Center on Thursday and then transferred to Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola a day later. Doctors were unable to relieve fluid that began to surround his heart and he succumbed to the illness shortly after 11 a.m., Mr. Panico said.


“He absolutely believed in public service and believed in the people he represented,” Mr. Panico said. Services were held earlier this week in Center Moriches. The Shelter Island Town Board observed a moment of silence in honor of Mr. Romaine at the start of the November 17 work session.