Henry Joseph Scully

SCULLY, Henry J., “Hank”, age 90, of Atlanta, formerly of Suffern, NY and Panama City Beach, FL, died December 13, 2007. A native of Rockland County, NY, Hank Scully was a 1935 graduate of Suffern High School. He worked in the county’s building and trades industry from 1935 until his retirement in 1980. In 1937 he earned his apprenticeship and journeyman certificates as a plumber and steamfitter in the Rockland County United Association Local Union # 373. Enlisting in the Navy in 1942, he trained at Great Lakes Naval Center in Illinois then joined a Navy mechanical detachment accompanying General George Patton across North Africa for the invasion of Sicily. Staging in Licata and crossing overland to the Northern port city of Palermo, Sicily, he set to work defusing and repairing Nazi booby trapped machine shops in the Palermo shipyards. The port was continually bombed through the war. Earning the rank of Chief Petty Officer First Class, Hank remained in Palermo as part of the advanced ship repair unit during the five invasions of Italy launched from Sicily. One early task was repair of two destroyers, the Mayrant, on which FDR, Jr. was serving, and the Plunkitt, both heavily damaged by torpedoes. He also outfitted President Roosevelt’s carrier for the Yalta Conference and served in a four man technical team conducting ship salvage forays into enemy waters along the coast of Naples. Returning to civilian life in Suffern, Hank became a voting member in Local # 373. In 1954, he succeeded the union’s founder and first CEO, J.T. “Hiker” McCormack, and held the post for much of his career. In this capacity he served as President of the Hudson Valley Council, Vice President of the New York State Association, Vice President of the Rockland County Building Trades Association, Advisory Council Member of Ramapo # 1 Building Fund Committee and Labor Representative to Rotary International. In 1954-58 he served as President of the Suffern Volunteer Fire Department and later as Fire Chief of the Suffern Hose Co. In 1980 he and his wife, Ruth, retired to Panama City Beach to play golf. In 2004 they moved to Atlanta to reside, near their son, at Brighton Gardens Assisted Living of Dunwoody. Hank Scully lived an active life in Rockland County and later in Florida. Although an accomplished Eastern and Western saddle horseman, an expert fly fisherman and a successful deer hunter, Hank considered ability and time spent on the golf links a better measure of American manliness. He was a member of Santa Rosa Golf and Beach Club in Santa Rosa Beach, FL and Monroe Country Club in Monroe, NY. He had three holes- in-one to his credit and maintained low scores in his age category into his late eighties. His church affiliations included Sacred Heart Church in Suffern, Holy Family Episcopal Church, Panama City, FL and All Saints Catholic Church, Dunwoody, GA. Volunteer work included the American Legion, the Holy Name Society, St. Agatha’s Orphanage, the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, Boy Scouts of America, Rockland County Community College, and the Suffern Rotary Club and Fire Department. He was active in Rockland County politics, serving on numerous Democratic Party committees including those to elect John F. Kennedy and to nominate Robert F. Kennedy to the U.S. Presidency. His philanthropy included many health and education causes in Rockland Co. and he provided leadership for several Good Samaritan Hospital building drives. As a prominent county labor leader he campaigned successfully for the creation of the Sterling Forest Gardens recreation park in Tuxedo, NY where he hosted Crown Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands at the park’s dedication. Hank was the third of nine children born to Edward Scully and Charlotte Knickerbocker in Suffern. Through his mother, he was a descendant of Harman Jansen Kinneker Baker, an 18th Century Dutch immigrant known as the “Patroon of Schaghticoke, NY” and made world renowned as “Father Knickerbocker” in Washington Irving’s best seller, Knickerbocker’s New York (1864). Hank was predeceased by his wife of Sixty-Five years, Ruth Cullen Scully. He is survived by his children, Priscilla (Mrs. Frank)Wilson of Southport, FL, Dr. Robert and Jennifer Scully of Atlanta, Henry and Sharon Scully of Milton, NJ., James Charles and Mary Ann Scully of West Friendship, MD; grandchildren, Jennifer and Dr. John McLester, Eleanor Scully, James Scully, Patrick and Jeffrey Wilson; step-grandchildren, Crystal and Paul Chin, Sadie Kulla, Wyatt Kulla; great-grandchildren, Justin Wilson and Hazel Rose McLester, and step great-grandchildren, Tatiana and Jayden Chin; two widowed sisters, Agnes (Mrs. Richard) Newell of Suffern and Charlotte (Mrs. Francis) Wassmer of Haverstraw, NY; many nephews and nieces. A memorial service is planned in Suffern in June for family and friends followed by burial at Frederick Loescher Veterans Cemetery in Monsey, NY. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established in his name at MAP (Medical Assistance Programs) International: www.map.org. A private family service was held at Northside Chapel Funeral Directors and Crematory, 12050 Crabapple Rd., Roswell, GA. www.northsidechapel.com.

Henry Joseph Scully

April 7, 1917 - December 13, 2007