Lawrence resident Howard Siskind, 80, fashionable, charismatic

Longtime Lawrence resident Howard Siskind served as a village trustee, a Parks Commission chairman and a president of the Men’s Club at the Lawrence Yacht & Country Club. He died on Feb. 14. He was 80.

Considered charismatic by family and friends, who remember him as a well-dressed, generous person who loved golf, Siskind, who lived in Lawrence since 1969, was known to his family as “Bops," and was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

As the retired co-owner of Bernette Textiles, a knitwear company which was in located in the Empire State Building and founded by his father, Jack, Siskind made bold statements with his style choices.

He always wore a pocket square, had a collection of ties that needed their own closet, and wore “elegant dress shoes,” his daughter Marcy wrote in an email He examined clothes thoroughly and described the intricacies of the stitch and fabric. He took his daughters shopping and, when they got married, he would do the same for his sons-in-law.

Longtime friend, William Henry, met Siskind at the Lawrence Golf Club. Though Siskind played golf from the time he was a boy until his late 70s, “Raising money [for charity] was his hobby,” Henry said.

Siskind was a former trustee of the International Multiple Sclerosis Management Practice, a multiple sclerosis research center, which honored him for fundraising. He also fundraised for St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway with golf tournaments at the Lawrence club to raise money.

“He generosity expended to smaller, less recognized gestures as well,” Marcy stated. “When his beloved caddie developed brain cancer, he paid for treatment and then for his funeral.

He paid to send our long-time housekeeper’s body to Alabama after her passing so that she could be buried in her hometown, and paid for that funeral too. He was loyal to people in all aspects of his life, and he wanted to help when things got tough for others.”

Siskind greeted all golf club employees by name, stood up to who disrespected women and canceled his lifelong dream trip to golf in Scotland to be here for his son-in-law Jonathan Weiss’ cancer surgery.

He lent friends clothing from his extensive wardrobe, made detailed speeches and eulogies at weddings and funerals, constantly touched base with his daughters and granddaughters and was always the first to listen and celebrate other people’s achievements first.

As a village trustee, in the early 2000s,“He was instrumental in helping us with the village of Lawrence in getting funding for our EMS program [in 2002],” Former Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department Chief David Campbell said.

Marcy said her father was “larger than life” recalling that when he drove her up to Colgate University for the first time as a freshman in his red sports car – he only drove red cars – “he hired an off-duty police detective to drive the van containing my belongings – they carried guns and didn’t hide it,” Marcy said, “and the other kids thought my dad was really something.”

“We could not have asked for a more loving, proud dad - he cherished each of us and was always up to date on the minutia of our lives,” Marcy said. “He was one of a kind and steadfastly devoted to the people he loved.”

He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Linda (“Lindy Loo”), and daughters, Marcy and Hillary, and by his three granddaughters – which he nicknamed his “singular sensations” – Jordan (“Jordo”) Truly (“‘Trulster”) and Frankie (“Franklyn”). And by Hillary’s husband and son-in-law, Jeremy Holgerson. He predeceased by Marcy’s husband, Jonathan Weiss (“Jonny Boy”).