Joseph H. May (d. 1987) was the long-time pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church as well as a civic leader in the Rockaways. He had attended Virginia Union University before coming to New York in 1941. Later that year, he was inducted into the all-black 366th Infantry and saw combat in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. In 1945 he completed his bachelor's degree at LIU and went on to earn a Doctor of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. In 1947 he became pastor of Mount Carmel, which he served for 40 years, until shortly before his death in 1987.