OBITUARIES

Riverdale Country teacher Bill Carroll, 82

Posted

William J. Carroll (Bill) died peacefully in his home Feb. 19, 2019, while under hospice care for cancer.

He was 82.

He was a lifelong resident of New York City, moving to Copake four years ago with his wife Mary. His second love after the Bronx was Columbia County.

He began working — first as a theoretical mathematician in the space industry — and then these last 35 years as a high school and college math teacher.

For 25 years, he taught at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. Another avid interest was art, and he was a student for many years at the Art Students League in New York City, where he delighted in doing sculpture.

During his time, he became the leading expert on the Piccirilli Brothers, who had lived and worked in the South Bronx in the late 19th and early 20th century as stonecarvers for the great sculptors of the day, and also as sculptors of notes themselves.

He and his wife spread the word through their lectures, given around the area, including at Chesterwood in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Daniel Chester French’s home. The Piccirillis did almost every sculpture for French, including the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

In addition to his wife, Mary Shelley Carroll, he is survived by his brother, John Carroll of Brooklyn, and three children: Maude Shelley Carroll of Chicago, and twins Nora and James Carroll.

A memorial service will be held at a later date in New York City. Friends in the area are invited to stop by the house. Call (347) 267-3498 for further information.

William J. Carroll,