Joseph W. Audiino of Brentwood dies at 61

Joseph W. Audiino, a man known for his humor and kind manner who spent 30 years in the U.S. Postal Service before starting a second career as a funeral home director, died May 7.

He was 61 and lived in Brentwood. The cause was lymphoma.

His wife of nearly 35 years, Gail Audiino, said her husband was an only child who was born in Manhattan in 1949. She said he attended St. George Ukrainian Catholic School there and then La Salle Academy, where he was on the track team and competed in discus, javelin and shot put.

In 1971, Audiino received a bachelor's degree in business administration from St. John's University, where he established lifelong bonds with the Alpha Phi Delta fraternity.

While still at St. John's, Gail Audiino said, her husband began work for the postal service. He began as a clerk, then became a carrier and finally a customer-service manager.

Yet Joseph Audiino had always had a keen interest in another profession, one to which his mother objected: the mortuary sciences.

In 1994, when his mother died, Gail Audiino said, her husband asked to be shown around a mortuary and soon embarked on study.

"He didn't want to disrespect her while she was alive," said Gail Audiino, 58, "but as soon as she died, that's when he started taking classes."

In 2000, he left the postal service and became a funeral director at Michael J. Grant Funeral Home in Brentwood.

Audiino's daughter, Jacqueline Audiino, also a funeral director, said her father was a "gentle giant" with a "heart of gold" who quickly put grieving families at ease.

"He was able to speak so openly and he was able to touch people," said Jacqueline Audiino, 29, of Brentwood. "He really loved doing what he did."

Audiino was deeply involved with St. Luke Roman Catholic Church in Brentwood, where he was a member of the Holy Name Society, and his community. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and had been an assistant scout master with the Boy Scouts.

Audiino showed immense strength, his daughter Jacqueline said, during the course of chemotherapy treatment that lasted a year and a half.

He continued to work, she said, and just about a week and a half before he died agreed to be a fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held at St. Luke on Tuesday. Audiino's body was cremated. The family requested donations in Audiino's name to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Audiino is survived by two sons, Joseph Audiino and wife Kim of Coram and Jonathan Audiino and wife Lindsay of Dix Hills; and two grandsons, Joey and Luke.