William Earnshaw Treene

William Earnshaw Treene, 89, a third-generation Montclair resident, business executive, and
civic leader, died in West Caldwell of leukemia on July 5, 2025. He had been President of
Hayward Pool Products in Elizabeth, N.J., a board member of Montclair Senior Care, and a
long-time volunteer at Mountainside Hospital and the Montclair Food Pantry, among other
charitable endeavors.
Bill Treene was born in Montclair in 1936, and attended Montclair High School and the
University of Vermont. Upon graduation from college, he married his high-school sweetheart,
Cynthia Mann Treene, also from Montclair. He served in the U.S. Army infantry, retiring as a
captain. He started civilian life at Hayward Manufacturing Company, then located in Brooklyn.
He worked his entire civilian career at the company, eventually becoming president of Hayward
Pool Products. Bill helped build Hayward from a small water products manufacturer into the
world's leading manufacturer of swimming pool filtration equipment. He also served as
president of the Northeast Swimming Pool Institute, a trade association.
Volunteering was always a big part of Bill's life. He coached basketball for the Presbyterian
Church of Upper Montclair and served as President of the Montclair Lacrosse Association and
Vice President of the Cobra football league. After his retirement, he worked for 23 years as a
volunteer in the emergency room at Mountainside Hospital, volunteered at the Montclair Human
Needs Food Pantry and served on the board of Montclair Senior Care. He even worked as a
docent at the Nauset Light in Eastham, Massachusetts, the lighthouse featured on Cape Cod
potato chip packages.
Bill leaves behind his wife Cynthia, known as C.Y., son Jeff of Ross, California, son David of
Monroe, N.J., son Eric of Arlington, Virginia, and seven grandchildren and two great-
grandchildren. Bill loved tending the yard of his home on Park Street where he and C.Y. lived
for 48 years and walking along the Mill Pond on Cape Cod with one of his golden retrievers.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, July 26, 2025, 11:00 a.m. at the Presbyterian Church
of Upper Montclair, 53 Norwood Avenue, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.
Arrangements are under the direction of Shook's Cedar Grove Funeral Home, 486 Pompton
Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ. Memories and condolences may be shared at shookscedargrove.com.