W.L. Vinciguerra, teacher, WWII vet, dies

William L. Vinciguerra taught hundreds of children how to read and write during his 37 years as a Levittown educator.

Vinciguerra, a 51-year Garden City resident, died of kidney failure Wednesday. He was 85.

Vinciguerra, who worked in the Levittown Public Schools District from 1951 to 1988, taught fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders and served as assistant principal at elementary schools including Gardiners Avenue and Abbey Lane.

"For him teaching meant enlightenment," said his son Thomas Vinciguerra, 47, of Garden City. "It meant opening up young lives."

Born on May 25, 1925, Vinciguerra was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant and graduated from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn in 1943.

During World War II, he was a Navy cook in the Admiralty Islands near New Guinea, serving as a petty officer second class in the 104th Naval Construction Battalion, also known as the Seabees, from 1943 to 1946.

"He was enormously proud of his service record," Thomas Vinciguerra said. "World War II was a terrible war and he wanted to do what he could to protect our basic freedom and values."

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After the war, Vinciguerra enrolled at St. John's University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in science in 1950. He then earned a master's degree in education in 1951 and a doctor of education degree in 1970 from Columbia University's Teachers College.

He and his wife, Aurora, whom he married in 1951, had three sons. To provide for his family, Vinciguerra worked multiple jobs in addition to teaching. He was vice president of industrial sales for National Coverage Corp. in Seaford and Dix Hills for more than a decade. He also helped coordinate the Levittown census during the 1980s.

"He had these other jobs to make sure that we graduated college without any debt," his son said. "Dad took care of us and he always made us feel safe."

For more than 50 years, Vinciguerra played poker with the same friends, the group calling itself the "monthly card game epicurean social circle." He loved watching old movies on television and catching up on the phone with friends.

A memorial service was held Friday morning at St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church in Garden City. He was buried in the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale. In addition to his son Thomas, he is survived by his wife, Aurora Vinciguerra, 81; two other sons, Raymond Vinciguerra, 54, of Manhattan and William J. Vinciguerra, 45 of Garden City; and two grandchildren.