Suffolk Community Remembers Beloved Bank Executive

AMITYVILLE, NY — A beloved Amityville resident is being remembered for his kindness and neighborly spirit.

Thomas Cardinale, who retired in 2005 as senior vice president and chief information officer at Greenpoint Savings Bank, died of lung cancer at age 81 on Oct. 22, Newsday reported.

Born in Brooklyn, Cardinale was the third of four children. As a young man, he got a job as a butcher, and was the first to graduate from college, earning a bachelor’s degree in computer programming from St. John’s University in 1962.

His banking career started in 1963 as a teller at the Brooklyn-based Kings Highway Savings Bank. He then went onto the data processing office, where he immersed himself in computer programming and IBM mainframes, those who knew him told Newsday.

Cardinale was the kind of person where if an employee had a flat tire, the bank executive went to the rescue, Newsday said. He encouraged his wife to be a stay-at-home mom, because she had a hard life as a single parent with two jobs.

He is survived by his wife, daughter, brother, stepson, and four grandchildren.

A Mass was celebrated at St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church in Amityville on Oct. 28, followed by burial at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.