John A. McCaffrey

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of John Anthony McCaffrey, who passed away peacefully in his home in Plainview, New York, on April 15, 2025, at the age of 80. John, known to close friends and family as “Johnny” or “Johnny Mac,” was born on June 16, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York, to Bernard and Anne McCaffrey. He was the fifth of six siblings: Moira, Matty, Barney, Barbara and Kevin.

After growing up with his brothers and sisters in Bedford Stuyvesant, where his family owned a bar and a candy shop, John married Cynthia Bushek on November 6, 1965. Immediately after, John served in the United States Marine Corps from 1965 to 1967 in Vietnam. A combat engineer, part of his many duties included clearing land mines to help protect his platoon.

Upon John’s return from Vietnam, he and Cynthia settled in Flushing, Queens, and he started his lengthy career on Wall Street, using the GI Bill to attend and graduate with a B.B.A. in economics from Pace University, while working full time at the Bank of Montreal. John later moved to Cantor Fitzgerald, where he spent most of his career as a bond broker before retiring in 1997. Together, John and Cynthia had two beloved daughters, Tara and Heather. They moved to Plainview in 1975 and have called it home ever since.

Outside of work, John loved taking care of animals, and doted on the family cats Jinx, Muffin and later Polly. He also loved to travel the world. John and Cynthia traveled extensively over the years, visiting all seven continents and embarking on many memorable adventures to far-flung destinations such as Kenya and Tanzania, Antarctica, Mongolia, Australia, Uganda and Rwanda. John also loved old western movies, especially with Roy Rogers (his hero), as well as watching boxing, particularly Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

But if there was one thing John loved most in life, it was his family, especially his five grandchildren: Cameron, Brett, Drew, Kaitlyn and Emily. He would drop anything and everything to spend time with his grandkids, sitting for hours on the floor playing with them when they were little, and beaming at their accomplishments as they grew older. Fiercely protective, he used to joke that he would wrap every one of his grandchildren in bubble wrap if he could.

John is predeceased by his five siblings and is survived by Cynthia, his wife of nearly 60 years. He is also survived by his daughter Tara (Barr) and son-in-law Terry, and their sons Cameron, Brett and Drew, and his daughter Heather (McDonald) and son-in-law Pete, and their daughters Kaitlyn and Emily.

Calling hours will be this Friday, April 18th from 4-8 pm at the Vernon C. Wagner Funeral Home at 655 Old Country Road, Plainview, New York, 11803.

The family asks that those looking to make donations to please support The Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) or Disabled American Veterans (help.dav.org)