William E. PAPAJ Jr.

FUNERAL HOME

James E. Grace Funeral Home, Inc.

335 Ontario Street

Buffalo, New York

William PAPAJ Obituary

Name: Mass of Christian Burial for William E. PAPAJ Jr.
Start: 2021-07-21T14:00:00.000Z
Location: All Saints Church

PAPAJ - William E., Jr.
June 28, 2021 at age 78. Beloved son of the late William and Mary (nee Grabowski) Papaj; dear brother of Marianne and Joseph (Mary) Papaj; uncle of Nicholas Papaj. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday, July 21st, at 10 AM in All Saints Church, 205 Esser Ave., Buffalo, NY. Bill was a graduate of Canisius High School, University Of Detroit, Georgetown University Law School, University Of Michigan Business and University of Pennsylvania Lasker Fellowship. Flowers gratefully declined. Memorials may be made to Canisius High School Athletic Department. Arrangements by James E. Grace Funeral Home, Inc.

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Published by Buffalo News on Jul. 18, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for William PAPAJ

2 Entries

Gene Hollo

December 30, 2021

Bill was a dear college friend and a great guy. If his brother sees this please email me at [email protected] or call me at 513-379-6606

Kari Brenna Saba

July 20, 2021

Bill graduated from Canisius High School in 1961 and attended Canisius College in Buffalo before transferring to the University of Detroit where he graduated with a degree in Civil and Mechanical Engineering in 1967. His Doctor of Law degree from Georgetown University followed in 1971. He began his career in real estate law working in Falls Church, VA, and Atlanta. Bill earned his third degree, an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1977. After graduating, he moved to Chicago and worked for Baird & Warner as House Counsel. In 1980, he moved to Washington, D.C. and began his work in Affordable Housing, working over a decade for NHP (National Corporation for Housing Partnerships) as Vice President & Associate General Counsel. In the early 1990's he joined NEF (National Equity Fund) in Chicago as General Counsel where he continued his work in the Affordable Housing industry. After retiring from NEF, he served The Community Builders, a leading nonprofit real estate developer, as Midwest Regional Counsel for several years before finally retiring to southern California.

Bill had a passion for helping others and he found working in the Affordable Housing industry to be extremely rewarding both personally and professionally. He was well known and respected in the industry for the contributions he made. Bill was hired at NEF, a mission-driven non-profit low-income housing tax credit fund, as this fledgling industry was taking off and staff were just learning how to navigate this new section of the IRS Code. NEF´s CEO at the time credited Bill for helping guide the company through this uncharted territory and contributing significantly to NEF´s success in the early years. His collaborative work style, calm demeanor, and humor helped NEF develop new protocols and standards that guided the company for decades. He assembled a talented in-house legal team, influenced many careers, and many have gone on to be leaders in a very specialized industry.

Bill was a quiet, gentle giant with a loving heart for everyone and a smart legal mind. Bill applied his extensive knowledge, skills, and life-long experiences for good in the affordable housing industry. From this, Bill helped to provide thousands of affordable homes for countless low-income families and individuals throughout the country. Bill´s legacy of kindness will live on through all those he helped along the way.

Bill was a huge Buffalo fan and considered it about the best place in the world to grow-up. He loved all the holidays his family hosted and most of all, the Christmas traditions his family celebrated. He returned regularly to keep in touch with family and friends and visit his favorite haunts. Both family and life-long friends were extremely important to him, and he cultivated these relationships throughout his lifetime.

Like his passion for Affordable Housing, he was passionate about collecting American Flyer trains. His collection started with the trains he received as a child and grew over the years. He very much enjoyed traveling all over the country attending train conventions and visiting hobby shops to build a collection of over 1000 train cars. His other passion was restoring his father's 1965 Mustang, and in 2015, participating in the 50th Mustang Anniversary Drive.

Bill was an extremely generous person in so many ways. He was a supporter of the Jesuit schools he attended being very appreciative of the excellent education he received. He was a mentor to his professional colleagues, and he was a great friend to all who knew him. His warm personality, and winning smile and laugh will be missed by all.

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