William James "Bill" Haney

William Haney, 94, of Commack, NY, died January 29th 2026 after a month-long illness. He was most recently at the Visiting Nurse Service / Hospice of Suffolk Center of East Northport, and resided for the past 2 years at Sunrise Assisted Living in Smithtown. His Wake and Funeral will be held on Feb 7th at 9 am at the Commack Abbey in Commack, NY.

Bill was born on May 30th, 1931 in Atlantic City, NJ. It was there, living by the ocean and local ports that he and his brothers and sisters learned to love the water. After a move to upstate NY Bill finished highschool in Schenectady, NY where he excelled in Track and Cross Country. Bill and his 2 brothers were all in the Service and he became a US Marine Staff Sergeant during the Korean War. Bill married Marlene Case of Queens, NY in 1952 and they moved to Commack in 1960 and raised 3 sons.

Manager of a fuel oil company by day, and an Art Instructor by night – Bill was self-taught and became a fine oil and watercolor artist teaching Adult Education Classes in Commack and also privately. On weekends you could find him and his family at Art Shows up and down the east coast. In 1989 he remarried Patricia Tjaden of Commack and they enjoyed tennis, travel and living both in Commack and Jensen Beach, FL.

Bill was a man of many talents. Besides being an artist, he was a scout leader and counselor, sailor, swimmer, tennis player and instructor, golfer, salesman and an inventor.
His family said that he loved life, he always lit up a room and there wasn't anything bad to say about him. The man also loved to eat and never missed a meal!

Bill loved to give his paintings away to friends and relatives – he enjoyed giving part of himself. He also loved watching the horse races, baseball and tennis. He loved watching his grandchildren play baseball – he could not get enough! He was always proud of all of his kids and their accomplishments.

Bill loved his family and friends and is survived by his wife of 36 years Patricia, his sons Jeffrey (MaryAnne), Richard (Debbie) and Scot. He had 5 grandchildren (Brian (Rachel), Bobby (Katie), Brandon (Juliana), Jonathan (Caela) and Rebecca) and 6 great grandchildren (Ezra, Arlo, Nora, Silas, Cameron, and Vienna). He also loved his dog, Java.

William J. Haney will be buried at Pinelawn Memorial Park with the United States Marines doing the final honors.

Dad, who was full of life, will be greatly missed!!!