William K. Lavin, a local businessman known for his generosity to the Church, died on Dec. 5 at age 77.
Lavin was a native of Brooklyn who attended St. Vincent Ferrer School, Flatbush; Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge; and St. John’s University, Jamaica.
Known as a humble man of faith, he had been honored as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and a Knight of St. Gregory, and received a Catholic Guardians Society Humanitarian Award, a President’s Medal of St. John’s University, and was also honored with the dedication of a Center for the Developmentally Disabled as the Eileen and William Lavin Day Treatment Program in Bay Ridge.
He began his career as a CPA at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company (now KPMG) and continued at Kenilworth Management Company and J.C. Penney Co. as a senior financial manager. He moved to F.W. Woolworth Company in 1981 as controller and rose to become chairman of the board and chief executive officer before retiring in 1994.
Following his retirement from Woolworth, he continued to work as a management consultant and board member to many corporations, including Wall Street Access and Alleghany Corporation, 1994-2021, for which he also served as chairman of the audit committee.
Lavin was also generous with his time, serving on the boards of HeartShare Human Services, chairman of the board; St. John’s University, chairman of the board; a trustee of Xaverian H.S.; Emerald Society of Long Island, president (1992- 1993); and Cathedral Club of Brooklyn and Queens, director.
He also participated in several financial and fundraising committees for the Diocese of Brooklyn, including but not limited to the Compostela Fund; as a trustee and a member of the diocese’s Investment Committee; the St. John’s Cemetery Investment Fund; Mercy First; St. Christopher’s Home; College of Business Administration; St. Francis de Sales Church, trustee and parish councilman; and the Rockaway Development Corporation.
He and his wife, Eileen, were married for 40 years before her passing in 2007. They were the parents of Maureen Sawyer, Jeanine Zocks, Trici Broderick, Billy Lavin, Maribeth Gallagher, James Lavin, and Robert Lavin, and had 12 grandchildren.
In 2016, Lavin married Florence and was a beloved stepfather to Melissa Murphy and Cristi Keane and their nine grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Dec. 9 at St. Francis de Sales Church, Belle Harbor.
Albert J. Byrnes, 89, died Dec. 4 at his home in Bay Ridge.
Raised in Flatbush and Amityville, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard after graduating from Midwood High School. He later joined his father at Byrnes Express, the family trucking business. After marrying in 1954, Al and Mary Alice settled in Bay Ridge and became active in St. Anselm’s parish, with Al volunteering his time with the Boy Scouts, Winter Wonderland, and the parish bazaar.
Byrnes was a past president of the Cathedral Club of Brooklyn and the St. Patrick Society of Brooklyn. For many years he served as the director of the floor committee at the Emerald Ball held by the Emerald Society of Long Island. He served on the board at St. John’s Residence for Boys for 30 years, retiring as secretary.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Alice, and their three children — Albert, Kathy, and Jim — eight grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Anselm’s on Saturday, Dec. 10. Burial was in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn.
Maureen Ingram died Nov. 23 at sea on board the M.V. Queen Mary 2.
Born in Park Slope, Maureen was the daughter of State Sen. Walter and Lillian Cooke and the wife of Judge John Ingram.
A lifelong Brooklyn resident and summer resident of Breezy Point, Maureen attended St. Joseph and St. Francis Xavier grammar schools, St. Saviour H.S., and Marymount College, Tarrytown. She worked as a legal assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and on the staff of State Sen. Alton Waldron. She later became a substitute teacher with the New York City Department of Education.
She is survived by her husband, John, and their four children — Mary Allison Muccigrosso, Sean Ingram, Brian Ingram, and Maureen Sheridan — and eight grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Dec. 7 at St. Thomas More Church, Breezy Point.
