William McLaughlin

06/05/2001

William J. McLaughlin, 96, of East Spring St., Williamsville, N.Y., former resident of Pittsfield, died Tuesday morning at home. Born in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., on Sept. 25, 1904, son of John L. and Ann B. O'Brien McLaughlin, he was a 1923 graduate of Pittsfield High School. He also attended the Columbia University School of Journalism. He began his career in advertising in the 1920s with agencies in New York City, Brooklyn, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. In 1945, he became sale promotion manager of McGurdy & Co. in Rochester, N.Y., and became executive director of public relations before leaving in 1963 to return to New York City. Before retiring in 1972, he served as a member of the administrative staff of the U.S. Olympic Committee in New York. He worked with manufacturers and retailers to design clothing for the athletes in Mexico City and Munich, Germany. During this time, he served as contributing editor of Stores Magazine and taught advertising at high school and college levels. He was also an artist, whose landscapes and seascapes won numerous awards in regional art shows. His first wife, the former Ellen Marie Crowley, whom he married in 1927, died in 1952. His second wife, the former Lois Ingalls, whom he married in 1954, died in 1992. He leaves two sons, William J. McLaughlin Jr. of Buffalo, N.Y., and Peter McLaughlin of Petersburgh, N.Y.; seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. A son, James McLaughlin, died in 1993. Funeral services will be tomorrow, Friday, June 8, at 11 at the DWYER FUNERAL HOME. Burial will follow in St. Joseph's Cemetery. If friends desire, memorial donations may be made to HospiceCare in the Berkshires, in care of the Dwyer Funeral Home.

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