RSS 2.0 FeedJune 24, 2011, Weekly editorial
Dr. Bill Irvin, good guy
When I think of Bill Irvin, who never lost his heavy Oklahoma accent, I don’t think about all the important titles he has held, and there were many. Instead, I remember him as a good guy. As longtime family friend Ann Clark, put it, he “lived life with a lot of grace and gratitude.”
Bill Irvin, who died Saturday in his North Merrick home at the age of 83, was a longtime member of the Merrick Kiwanis Club and served the North Merrick Library as a board trustee after his wife, June, retired as superintendent of the North Merrick Schools. At the time of his death, he was busy planning a memorial garden for her at Old Mill Road School, where she had also served as principal.
This is also appropriate because she served for many years on the Keep Merrick Beautiful Committee, coordinating an annual essay contest both before and after she became Associate Publisher of Merrick Life and other sister publications published by L&M Publications community newspapers.
The two had met at a regional superintendents’ conference when he was superintendent at Uniondale Free School. District. He was superintendent from 1971 to 1982, and assistant superintendent for instruction from 1969 to 1971. She was the first female member of the group, a pioneer in her time, and Bill Irvin was very proud of that. He retired well before she did and influenced generations of teachers as an observer and mentor for student teachers and adjunct professor at St. John’s University, Hofstra and C.W. Post. Also, he helped found the WLIW quiz show “Brainstormers” and served as moderator for the competition between schools, earning the nickname, “Dr. Bill.”
A former Merrick Woman of the Year, retired OMR school nurse Fran Guercio remembered, “He was a kind, intelligent, and very nice person. [Bill and June] made a great couple. It was nice that they found each other after [her husband, CHSD Superintendent] Frank Gerhardt died. [Bill] made her life much happier.”
He is one of the last of the generation of World War II veterans, having served in the Army Air Corps. He was a Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion while attending Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
A native of Checotah, Oklahoma, he is survived by a sister, Ronnie Lana, his brother and sister-in-law Jack and Pat Neville and many loving nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a sister, Billy Helt, and brother, Jack Shatid.
A funeral service will be held Thursday, June 23, at 10 a.m. at N.F. Walker Funeral home, with interment following at Calverton National Cemetery alongside his beloved wife.
