David Lewis, Smithtown's Greatest Person of 2012

We asked in December for Smithtown Patch readers to vote on who was the greatest person in Smithtown for 2012. Voting has been closed and you chose Dave Lewis as the winner. 

Lewis brought in 38 percent of your votes, edging out local author Jeb Ladouceur who had 26 percent of your votes.

Lewis, among many other things, is a firefighter with the Smithtown Fire Department, an officer with the New York Police Department, Owner of Five Star Pools of Suffolk, and the Co-Director of Camp Adventure for the American Cancer Society.

"I've known Dave for a long time and he's a tremendous asset to the Smithtown Fire Department and the residents of Smithtown," said Smithtown Fire Department Chief John Hansen.  

Your comments on the original voting story applauded Lewis' efforts just as much as the chiefs. 

"He took me one Halloween to an event the camp was hosting for the kids. I was just so blown away by what a good hearted person he is," wrote Smithtown Patch reader Anthony R. "He turned 40 a year or 2 ago and he made his birthday party into something that once again was to help kids with cancer. He literally sold 'tickets' to his party and all the money went to children with cancer. That was Dave's gift. Your gift to him was buying a 'ticket' to his party to help sick kids ... He is such an unbelievable person. I can only aspire to be half the kind of guy he is. I feel lucky to know him personally."