William J. O’Neill ’60

William J. O’Neill ’60, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., formerly of Red Hook, N.Y.; Jul. 5, of cancer. Following Brown, he graduated from Duke Law School and was appointed a special agent with the FBI in 1963, serving for eight years in North Carolina during the height of the civil rights era. After his divorce from his first wife, he relocated to Red Hook, where they remained friends and coparents. Upon his return to New York, he was hired as an assistant district attorney in Dutchess County and remarried. He retired from the district attorney’s office on December 30, 2002, concluding 31 years as a trial lawyer, as well as being instrumental in the training and development of many young attorneys. He then joined his longtime friend’s law firm part-time and retired a second time in 2012. In retirement he served as the appointed chief deputy of the town and was instrumental in the preservation of farmland and public spaces. He was elected four times to the Town Board through 2021. He is survived by his wife, Jean; four children and their spouses, including son Alec ’03; three stepchildren; 13 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law; a brother-in-law; and many nieces and nephews.