William McNamara, Catholic Charities leader

William McNamara was walking by Fenway Park in Boston with one of his sons years ago when he passed a legless man selling pencils. McNamara gave the man some money, and then walked away without the pencils.

It was that kind of compassion for the poor and disadvantaged that served as the focus of McNamara's life, family and former colleagues said Wednesday.

He was a key player in Catholic Charities on Long Island, helping to expand parish outreach programs throughout the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

McNamara, who lived for years in Manhasset and then Islip, died Tuesday at 93.

His son, William McNamara Jr., of St. Louis, Mo., said his father's philosophy and mission in life could be summed up simply: "service to the poor."

"He was one of the most wonderful people that I ever worked with in my life," said Msgr. John Gilmartin, a former head of Catholic Charities who hired McNamara to serve as director of Social Ministry for the diocese.

"He was an inspiration to everybody he was with."

SEE PHOTOSNotable deaths: Long Islanders we recently lost

McNamara took an early retirement from a successful career in business to take on the social ministry job, Gilmartin said. He recalled the day McNamara called him to his office in Massapequa to ask to go into church work full-time.

"He was just inspiring from that moment," Gilmartin said. "He lived what he preached. He lived the message of the gospel."

He would open the doors at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in East Islip most days and typically be alone in prayer for an hour before anyone else arrived, Gilmartin said. Then he would attend 7:30 a.m. Mass.

McNamara was born in Boston, where he lived for the first 45 years of his life. He went to work for Filene's Basement department store, and eventually moved with his wife and children to Long Island, where he worked for Gertz department store.

At St. Mary's parish in Manhasset, he got involved in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a charitable organization that helps provide clothing and other items to the needy. He did the same at St. Mary's in East Islip when the family moved to Islip, and eventually created an entire outreach program at the parish.

After he became head of social ministry for the entire diocese in 1988, he would visit the diocese's 133 parishes and encourage pastors to create or continue outreach programs.

McNamara is survived by his wife, Angela, and seven other children: Joan McNamara, of Wayland, Mass.; Carol Vallely and Janet Paradine, both of Garden City; Ellen Caltabiano, of Hicksville; Susan Mylod, of Oak Island, N.C.; John McNamara, of Chesterfield, Va.; and Mary Lou Engrassia of West Babylon.

The wake is Thursday at Chapey and Sons Funeral Home in East Islip, 2-4:30 p.m. and 7-9:30 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held Friday at 9:45 a.m. at St. Mary's in East Islip, with burial at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Bay Shore.