Antone Moreira Obituary

ANTONE F MOREIRA LOVING HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, CFO Antone F (Tony) Moreira was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on October 22, 1936 The only child of Portuguese immigrants, Antonio and Mary Luiz Moreira, he lived the American dream He learned the value of hard work and discipline from his entrepreneurial parents As a child he remembered riding his bike to deliver newspapers and going with his dad in the old pickup with the gear shift on the steering wheel to tend to his various businesses Those trips usually resulted in a detour to the ice cream parlor where they would each get a float In later years he would admit that's what made him a chubby boy Tony had big dreams He was the first member of his family to go to college enrolling in Boston University He transferred to Ithaca College and graduated in 1959 with a BS in accounting He served his country in the U S Army Reserve and enrolled in the Johnson School of Business at Cornell University where he received an MBA From there the sky was the limit He began his career in retailing with Lord & Taylor in finance In 1963, his life changed forever when he met Barbara Ann LaSalle He and some single friends had crashed a party that she was attending in Spring Lake, NJ, and the rest is history Despite initially telling her that he modeled men's socks for a living, she agreed to go out with him They married on May 29, 1964 They had two children: Barbara Lyne in 1966 and John Michael in 1972 They were happily married for 59 years Tony quickly moved up the corporate ladder at Lord & Taylor, then Gertz Department Stores and eventually took a job as vice-president and controller at Richards based in Miami, Florida From there he became a senior vice-president of Maison Blanche in New Orleans, Louisiana He returned to New York as CFO of Brooks Brothers before eventually joining Stuarts Department Stores in Rhode Island and finally Syms back in New York Despite the longstanding family joke that he would never retire, he did He developed his golf game which was encouraged by Barbara who worried he would never sit still in retirement They traveled extensively, spent winters in Florida, and enjoyed time with friends His complaints that he would never be a grandfather were answered with the arrival of Aidan in 2003 and Rose two weeks later in 2004 Then they kept coming Grace and Georgia 2006, Joseph in 2007, and Michael in 2009 He delighted in his grandchildren and the time he now had with them He closely followed their sports, artistic and educational achievements They were his world Though he was an accomplished success in the business world, his great collaboration with his wife, Barbara, which produced their children, was his most proud achievement He was a constant support and would always offer useful advice on everything from buying or leasing a car, purchasing a house, or caring for a lawn He understood money and also how to fix things He encouraged his children to pursue their dreams and showed them by example how to raise their children A nearly 40-year resident of Ridgewood, he is survived by his wife, Barbara, daughter, Barbara Lyne', son and daughter-in-law, John and Nancy, grandchildren, Aidan, Rose, Grace, Georgia, Joseph and Michael Visiting will be held on Sunday, 10/8 from 4-6 PM at the Feeney Funeral Home Ridgewood The Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday at 10 AM at Our Lady of Mt Carmel RC Church, Ridgewood Interment to follow at St Anne Cemetery, Wall Township, NJ In lieu of flowers, donations in Tony's memory to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center would be greatly appreciated