By:Jennifer Marino
[He was] one of the finest village attorneys I ever met, said Mayor Eugene Murray.
Seward served as village attorney under five mayors, John Anderson, Albert Wood, Donald F. Browne, Leonard Sandel and Eugene Murray. He retired as village attorney in 1996 and stayed on as special counsel to Murray until 2001. Murray continued to visit Seward after he retired to hear his stories of the days when he was general counsel for Western Union. Seward was also instrumental in establishing the Rockville Centre Community Fund, which continues to help the less fortunate of the village. Murray called him a compassionate man whose utmost attribute was that he loved his family very much.
He really loved the practice of law, said Village Attorney Martha Krisel. She said that even when Seward was in his 80s he still brought a fresh eye to cases and was very open minded about new trends and policies in the law. Krisel called him innovative, patient and unflappable. Part of what he loved about being village attorney is that every day is different.
There was an incident while Seward was village attorney involving two teenage boys who busted about 60 streetlights with an air pistol. The damages were about $1000, meaning the boys could have faced felony charges. Seward, however, intervened and worked out a compromise with the two boys and their parents. In his conversation with the teens, Seward found out that they felt the lights belonged to no one so it was a victimless crime. Seward explained that they were municipal property and really belonged to everyone in the village, including the boys. The agreement was that the two teens would pay back the damages out of their own pockets, bringing their money to Seward each week. He-d take them for a soda pop and a chat when they came in with their payments. Once the boys had learned their lesson well, Seward let them off the hook.
In 1951, Seward was one of the founders of the Rockville Centre Little League. When it was established, the league only had a major league division and many kids did not make the cut. In 1952, Seward and John Nofi helped create a minor league division so that all kids could play baseball. Every kid gets on a team now, said current Little League President Bob Klein.
He also served as a manager for almost 15 years in the league. The minor league was always his passion and when one of its players moved up to the majors, Seward felt that he had done his job in preparing them. In 1997, the Little League established the William E. Seward award to honor him. It is given to the 12-year-old girl who best exemplifies a love of the game of softball and has a high degree of sportsmanship, fair play and softball ability.
Seward was also a lector at St. Agnes Cathedral and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He is predeceased by his wife, Roberta, and son, James. He is survived by his sons, Robert and Anthony, attorneys at the firm of Seward and Seward on Front Street, Peter, and daughter, Virginia.
