Croutier honored at St. Agnes celebration

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Longtime Rockville Centre resident William Croutier Sr. was honored at the 57th annual St. Agnes Parish Celebration, Hoop it Up, on Oct. 19, held at the Msgr. James P. Kelly Parish Center. In the 60 years he has lived in the village, Croutier has been an active member of the community and of St. Agnes parish, and many of his friends and family members joined in the celebration, which included live music by The Mystic, a buffet dinner, and a silent auction.

Born in the Bronx and raised in Queens, Croutier moved to Rockville Centre in 1959 with his wife, Marie, where they raised 10 children. Before settling in the village, Croutier served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954 and began night school at St. John’s University Law School in 1955, graduating in 1958. He’s been a trial lawyer for more than 60 years and still practices law at his son’s firm based in Syosset.

All of his children attended St. Agnes Cathedral School and St. Agnes High School, and Croutier has been an active member of the parish, participating in the St. Agnes Holy Name Society, the Nocturnal Adoration Society, the Oceanside Knights of Columbus, the St. Agnes School Board and the St. Agnes Fathers’ Club.

Other volunteer work includes serving as a volunteer firefighter in the Rockville Centre Fire Department’s Eureka Hook Ladder & Bucket Co. No. 1 and coaching Little League and basketball. Croutier is a coach for his great-grandson’s eighth-grade CYO basketball team. He’s active in the Nassau-Suffolk chapter of the St. John’s Law School Alumni Association and volunteers in the moot court for high school and college students.

Croutier’s wife died in 2014, but his children, 24 grandchildren and their spouses and 11 great-grandchildren keep him busy.