Eulogy for William (Bill) Bane

Good morning, everybody, and thank you for being here.

I'm Bill's niece. His wife, the late Gloria Voska Bane, was my mother Betty's sister. I speak on behalf of 14 first cousins, husbands, wives and his Bane nephews and nieces when I say that we truly mourn the passing of a terrific guy, a shining example of the greatest generation. Uncle Bill was 90. He was born in Newburgh, New York in 1925. He and Gloria were long-time residents of Wyckoff, New Jersey before moving to Allendale.

Uncle Bill served in the US Army during WWII, and he worked in the financial services industry at Liebenthal, Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter and Samuel Ramirez & Co. in New York before retiring. He was a parishioner of St. Elizabeth's Church in Wyckoff and a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Many of us in the church today reminisced yesterday about my uncle and his humor, upbeat personality and kindness. Right now, though, my extended family would like to acknowledge my uncle's good friends, all of you who kept him going on a daily basis and exhibited incredible generosity and love towards him.

We are extremely grateful to the parishioners, clergy and staff of St. Elizabeth's for giving Uncle Bill a home away from home, a shelter from loneliness after our aunt passed on and a beautiful place to continue to practice his faith.

We're grateful to those who cleaned his home, invited him to dinner, and generally kept an eye on him and contributed to his quality of life in every way. Yesterday we met Lydia, Dotsie and many others among you we didn't know personally. I wish I could name you all individually.

We want to thank Lorraine and John Heoffman for their strong friendship and concern for my uncle.

Laurie, we know you as our uncle's special angel. I could go on for days about your generosity of spirit, but I'll just say you have reminded me what strong faith does to shape a person's character.

Lastly, to all of my uncle's friends gathered here, we know your relationships to my uncle were not one-sided, only just based on his needs as a widower and an elder. Bill brought an ebullient spirit, joy and a smile into every room. We loved him very much and we know he enriched all of your lives, as he did ours, through his humor, kindness and enthusiasm for life.

We'll miss him but we know he went to heaven where he's reunited with his beloved son, our cousin Tony, and his wife Gloria.

Thanks again, everyone. Our gratitude to you is immeasurable.