William Gillen, retired manager for Xerox, father of ex-Hempstead supervisor, 84

William Gillen was always in the audience when his daughter, former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen, had a tough board meeting or budget hearing.

“I would be like, ‘Dad, you shouldn't come and watch this. I'm your child, it might bother you,’ ” Laura Gillen said.

He showed up anyway.

“He would always be there to let me know that somebody was in the audience to support me,” Laura Gillen said. “That meant a lot to me.”

Gillen, a lifelong resident of Baldwin and a former regional comptroller for Xerox’s Long Island operations, died on June 26 of natural causes. He was 84.

The youngest of four, Gillen was born on July 13, 1938, to Thomas and Ann Gillen. Years later, a local newspaper published a picture of Gillen with a black cat when he turned 13 on Friday the 13th.

“He always thought 13 was a lucky number for him,” Laura Gillen said.

Gillen enlisted in the Marines and headed off to recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, after graduating from St. Agnes Cathedral High School in 1956. He then joined the reserves and enrolled in Hofstra University, where he was a catcher on the baseball team. His athletic talents earned him an invite to try out for the Brooklyn Dodgers’ farm team, which he passed on.

“He just decided that he didn't think he was gonna be a baseball player and he went on to work in business,” Laura Gillen said.

He started his career in sales and wound up at Xerox, where he climbed through the management ranks.

Around that time, he began dating Elaine Catanzaro, who was four years behind him at St. Christopher's Elementary School. Due to their age difference, they didn’t become acquainted till later in life through a mutual friend. The two married in 1968 and welcomed five children.

When Xerox offered Gillen a promotion that came with a relocation to Stamford, Connecticut, he opted for a long commute in lieu of uprooting his family.

“Instead of making us leave our friends and our school, he would just drive an hour and a half — whatever it took — to get to work every day,” said Laura Gillen, of Rockville Centre. “Never complained. That's the kind of sacrifice he would make for our family.”

Eventually, Gillen became a regional comptroller and returned home to run operations on Long Island. He was thrilled that a number of his employees were family friends he watched grow up in the neighborhood.

“It gave him the opportunity to not just hire kids that he knew, but also be a mentor to young people starting out in their career, which was something that he really enjoyed,” Laura Gillen said.

Gillen’s community was important to him. He was a member of St. Christopher's Parish his entire life and served on the parish council, spent many days at the now-defunct Sands Beach Club in Lido Beach, and coached baseball and softball.

Two of his closest friends, Vincent and Mary Alice Del Castillo, were his neighbors for 47 years and became like family to one another.

“Billy was very entertaining as a storyteller,” Mary Alice Del Castillo said. “He could take any incident and make it so interesting.”

Gillen was always happy to help those running for office, especially his daughter. During her run for town supervisor, Laura Gillen remembers her dad showing up to her house with an easel and giant pad, ready to jot down any important notes.

“He was the best campaign assistant ever,” Laura Gillen said. “He would help me  pore through budgets; he would help me talk about strategy.”

An avid golfer, Gillen’s first job was as a caddie at the Rockville Links Club in South Hempstead. His red hair earned him the nickname Red Rider on the course. Restless in retirement from Xerox, Gillen worked as a starter at Eisenhower Golf Course until 2020.

“It was so funny that it came full circle,” Laura Gillen said.

Besides his wife, Elaine, and daughter Laura, Gillen is survived by four other children: James of Rockville Centre, Paul of Rye, Lisbeth of Garden City and Peter of Malverne.

He leaves 13 — his lucky number — grandchildren.

Services were held at St. Christopher's Church in Baldwin on June 29. Burial was at Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury.