Thomas J. Rafferty

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Thomas J. Rafferty Sr., 80, of Great Kills, a retired marine engineer who was generous and always willing to lend a helping hand, died Wednesday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

Mr. Rafferty was born in Brooklyn, and raised in the Bronx. He moved to Stapleton in 1966, and settled in Great Kills in 1979.

He graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, and attended the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va.

A member and past president of Local Lodge 731, United Transportation Union (UTU), he worked for 20 years at the Erie Railroad as a marine fireman/oiler aboard steam tugs and ferry boats, and then as a conductor. He attained his U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Merchant Marine Officer and chief marine engineer's license, and worked for 20 years for the U.S Coast Guard and the Governor's Island Ferry service. He was also a past engineers representative for the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1954-1956, serving two tours of duty in the Arctic, the first supplying Thule Air Base in Greenland, and the second aboard a Landing Ship, Tank (LST), in the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Arctic, suppling DEW line radar sites. He was a member of the Wattkins-Keller American Legion Post in Great Kills.

Proud of his Irish heritage, he was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

A skilled craftsman and jack of all trades who owned many tools, he enjoyed working with metal. He also enjoyed solving the New York Times crossword puzzle.

Affectionately known as "Pop Pop," Mr. Rafferty loved spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Irene, in 2012, and by his son, Thomas J. Rafferty Jr., in 1995.

He is survived by his son, John Lawrence; his daughter, Marianne Rafferty-Luberto and Theresa Rafferty; his brothers, James, George, Richard and Eugene; his sister, Martha Rafferty; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be Tuesday from the Virginia Funeral Chapel, with a mass at 10 a.m. in St. Ann's R.C. Church, both in Dongan Hills. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.