Long-time Long Island AIDS activist, Dale Anthony Edmonston, died on New Year's Day after a long battle with the disease himself. He was 48.
Edmonston, who battled AIDS for nearly three decades, founded Dale House, an organization to provide food, clothing and shelter to those with the disease.
"He had that desire that it was his responsibility to look after others," says Edmonston's brother-in-law, Andrew Hardwick, who is also the mayor of Freeport.
Edmonston's sister, Cherie Hardwick, says she hopes his message will always live on.
"He would do anything for anybody, long before HIV or any of that, he was always eager to help somebody," says Cherie Hardwick.
Funeral services for Edmonston will be held Jan. 8 in Uniondale.