William Thomas McCaffrey

McCAFFREY - William Thomas, of Long Beach, N.Y. and Palm Beach Gardens, FL died June 18th, 2009, at his Long Beach home with his wife Mary by his side. Bill had endured a long illness with ALS-Lou Gehrig's Disease. Bill was born in Washington Heights on July 7, 1936. He attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish School and Cardinal Hayes High School before joining The Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1954 as a clerk. While working full time and supporting his young family, he graduated from NYU and earned a Masters Degree in business through the executive degree program at Columbia University. Through his dedication and perseverance he held over twenty six positions at the Equitable before retiring in 1999 due to his illness as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of AXA/Equitable. Bill met his wife Mary, at the Equitable and they have been married for forty nine years. They raised their family together in Rego Park, NY. He is dearly lved by his family and is survived by his wife Mary, three children Ann Nicoletti (John), William E. McCaffrey, and Christine Lodato (Joseph), his grandchildren Danielle,Gianna, Samantha, Kian, his brothers Daniel, John (Martha), and Joseph, and sister-in-law Dolores. His family is very proud of his many accomplishments, his vast generosity, and unwavering compassion for those in need. He was a great advocate in assisting his community and organizations of many realms. As Chairman Emeritus at Xavier University of Louisiana, he chaired the development committee where he raised over $50 million dollars towards the expansion of the campus. He has personally sponsored the education of over thirty students at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs where he attended grammar school. He also worked closely with the Inner City Scholarship Fund, Deafness Research Foundation, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, and Marymount Washington, D.C. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Our Lad Queen of Martyrs School, 71 Arden Street, New York City, NY 10040 or Xavier University, Drexel Road, New Orleans, LA. Reposing Macken Mortuary Island Park Chapel Sunday June 21 and Monday June 22, 2-4 and 7-9 hours. Funeral Mass will be held at St. Ignatius Church on Tuesday, June 23 at 10:30am. Interment All Faiths Cemetery, Middle Village, N.Y. mackenmortuary.com