Louis J. Liotti of Westbury passed away April 2, 2008 from complications of a heart condition. He was 92 years old.

Louis J. Liotti

Mr. Liotti was born on March 22, 1917 in lower Manhattan. His father immigrated to New York from Italy and owned a barbershop on 9th Avenue. Later the family moved to a farm in New Jersey and then to a home in Bayside where Mr. Liotti played sandlot baseball and was in the minor leagues, trying out for the New York Giants. He attended Stuyvesant High School and graduated from Flushing High School.

Mr. Liotti served in the United States Army in World War II reaching the rank of corporal and landing in Normandy and then fighting throughout the European Theater. After the war he went to work for AT&T. He organized and became the president of the Communication Workers of America, the Office Workers Local, and later became a contract negotiator on behalf of Western Electric Corporation.

Mr. Liotti moved to Long Island from Brooklyn and, in 1951, bought a Levitt home on Lace Lane in the Salisbury section of Westbury. About 10 years later he moved to a home in the Incorporated Village of Westbury, which he resided in for some 45 years.

Mr. Liotti was friends with Alex Rose, president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and the late United States Senator Robert Wagner Sr. He was also an extremely active member of the community. He served as president of the Central Nassau Athletic Association, building it from just a Little League to a Pony League, Babe Ruth League and Connie Mack League while also helping to add a basketball league. Mr. Liotti also served as chairman of Boy Scout Troop 459 and was both a Democratic and later Republican Committeeman.

Mr. Liotti was active in St. Brigid's R.C. Church, serving as an usher and a daily communicant for many years, and was an active member of the Knights of Columbus, the Holy Name Society and the Sons of Italy. He was also a swimming coach with the championship Levittown Carmen Avenue Team through which his son, Thomas, was introduced to the sport and went on to become an NCAA All-American and Olympic Trials participant. Mr. Liotti was also president of the Adelphi University Parents' Association and succeeded in bringing an FM radio station, WBAU to Adelphi.

Mr. Liotti is survived by Eileen, his wife of 67 years; his son and daughter-in-law Thomas and Wendy Liotti; three grandchildren, Louis, Carole and Francesca; and his brother Mario of Hollywood, FL.

Of his father, Thomas Liotti, a Garden City-based attorney and Westbury Village Justice, said, "He was devoted to his family, his church and his community. He was a tough man, a rugged individual living with severe heart problems and other ailments for over a decade. He taught me to be an athlete, a leader and independent. He was incredibly honest, moral, ethical and the fiercest fighter for the underdog and minorities that I have ever known. He encouraged me in sports, in life and in the law. When I first started trying cases in New York Federal Court, he would always be there watching, helping me to pick juries and working in my office. He never left my side and was the best friend I ever had."