Bill Nagle

Billy was born and raised in Cambria Heights in Queens, NY. He grew up with his parents, Lyra and William, and siblings, Robert and Jeanne. He was married to Gail for nearly 30 years until her death in 1993. They fell in love as teenagers and were always together. He was completely dedicated to her and took care of her through her 2-year illness. He always said, one day they will be together again. After that, it was just the three of us, so we made doubly sure we said, “I love you” and talked every day.

His journey growing up was the source of a lot of laughs for us, including his shenanigans at Powell Memorial and Andrew Jackson High School, where he’d write hall passes to Bill’s Candy Store. He had about 25 cars growing up – would crash them and get another one for $50. One car, he called the Lymouth (Plymouth with a missing P)… I think he said he crashed it into a wall. He was definitely a rule breaker, hah! and would climb out of his bedroom window and sneak down to the pool hall. He teased his little sister Jeanne, of course! And his brother Bob was his partner in crime. He had so many stories, we would laugh so hard at dinner our faces would hurt!

After graduating high school, he worked in a bakery where he said he was a coconut sprinkler and donut packer. He explained it in very “I Love Lucy” fashion with the conveyor belt moving cupcakes past and him throwing coconut at them. He also worked in a bank temporarily as a teller, but he found it difficult to maintain the customer service standards (if you can believe that?!) Finally, he landed a job with the Board of Education in NYC – and the rest, as they say, is history. He started out shoveling coal at Tilden High School as a Fireman and went on to get his Stationary Engineers license. He worked as a custodian engineer until he retired, and he was promoted to a Plant Manager in charge of a district of schools for part of that time. When he finally retired, he was so happy. He loved not driving to work in traffic. He used to say he had 6 Saturdays and 1 Sunday every week and was thrilled. He worked out at the gym, went to the beach, golfed, played pool, drove his Corvette with the top down, went on trips, and more. He did what he wanted to do and really enjoyed himself.

Despite having congestive heart failure and pulmonary fibrosis, he kept fighting. Then he had 7 bypasses in 2019. We thought that would kill him, but he bounced back and was still able to do a lot of the things he loved.  Over the last few years, his illnesses got worse… but he kept going… because he absolutely loved life and loved being with us. He still had such a will to live and a twinkle in the eye. We know he was ready to go, but damn… he had a lot more fun in him. His body just didn’t cooperate.

Bill Nagle always believed we could do anything… he taught us to be self-sufficient, independent, strong women. We talked every day and we just “got” each other. He supported us through thick and thin. He talked to us about everything, he had great advice, and he was the best friend and father we could have ever hoped for. There were no limits to his love for us… and we all loved him right back, just as fiercely.  We are already missing his smile, his joy, his mischievousness, his love. Life will not be the same without him… our new normal is definitely not as bright.