Obituary of William J. Crossin

On December 27th William J. Crossin died peacefully at home in Larchmont, surrounded by his loving family. Born in his beloved Bronx in 1934 to William J. and Helen Lombard Crossin, Bill lived in Larchmont almost 40 years. After grade school at St. Simon Stock, he graduated from All Hallows School, where he was elected to the Hall of Fame. This man was so well liked and loved by every person he ever met that he's still best friends with many of his kindergarten classmates. But then in Bill's view, anyone from the Bronx was conceived without sin. Upon graduation from Iona College, Bill enlisted in the United States Marines. Serving five years with distinction, he was discharged as a Sergeant in 1960. It was at Fordham Law School that Bill met Agnes Alban, the fellow law student who would become his wife. Agnes and Bill were married in July 1965. In the early days, these two ran their own all-purpose law firm. They had business cards printed, calling themselves "Double Crossin," alongside the scales of justice. Unfortunately, those scales were evenly balanced - until snarky friends complained that a firm with that name should give clients an edge, showing sharply tilted scales instead. Truth in Advertising! The Crossins agreed. When Bill decided to go straight, so to speak, he first went to work at Price Waterhouse Cooper, and then the IRS. This brought perennial mobs to his door in search of foolproof tax advice. After that, Bill became House Counsel to the Four Star company, leading source of lighting for Broadway shows. He stayed there until retirement, never running out of free show tickets for his lucky friends. Throughout his career, Bill was a busy, brilliant and highly esteemed attorney. Bill's four children are William, Helen, John and Margaret. Helen and her unborn daughter Patricia were lost 9/11. Bill's two grandchildren are Amber and Billy. A long-ago Crossin Christmas card showed a manger scene with Helen as the Blessed Mother, William as St. Joseph, and John as baby Jesus. (Margaret is still mad she was born too late for this tableau.) The Crossin family were active members of the Larchmont Shore Club for 35 years. And as a long-term Board member there, Bill computerized the club's entire operation. Whenever he referred to people too good to go to purgatory, Bill would say "S/ He'll be on the express bus." There's little doubt he took that route. Bill's wake will be at the Fox Funeral Home Wednesday, January 2nd 2-4 and 7-9 PM . His funeral is 10am Thursday the 3rd at the Church of St. Augustine in Larchmont. Bill's last request was for Mass cards in lieu of flowers. "He who is born at Christmas has all that should suffice - and he who dies at Christmas goes straight to Paradise." Hey, Bill, please save us all a seat on that Express bus!