William F. Layng

William F. Layng, 79, a father of five who traveled widely and had careers as a printer and librarian, died at the Governor's Center nursing home on July 23, 2007 of complications from earlier strokes.

Born May 16, 1928 in Brooklyn, N.Y., he grew up in Jamaica, Queens during the Great Depression, saw China as a U.S. Marine, and traveled throughout Europe and the United States. Formerly of Tolland, Connecticut he had been the chief librarian of the Vernon, Connecticut public school system. Bill, as he was known, was an avid reader, especially of history, who earned a B.A. in Sociology from Hofstra University in 1957 and an M.S. in Library Science from C.W. Post College in 1967. The son of George Ruxton and Ethel Rose (Brady) Layng, he was married for 39 years to Doris Frances (Dunphy) Layng. The two raised one son and four daughters, mostly in Tolland, where they lived from 1972 to 2001 before Doris died of cancer and Bill suffered his first stroke three weeks later. A man with a ready, and at times teasing, sense of humor, he enjoyed light-hearted films and television shows, a glass of wine or Scotch, and - before giving them up for health reasons - cigars. A lover of old jokes, sayings, and songs, he had played handball and softball as a boy and visited the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York. He attended St. Clements Elementary School in Jamaica, N.Y. and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in New York City in 1946. He then joined the U.S. Marines and was honorably discharged in 1948 as a corporal after being stationed 18 months in Tinsin, China. Upon returning to the United States, he became a printer, a profession he had studied in high school and that had been a family trade. He worked for the Long Island Daily Press at night and, during the day, took classes at Hofstra University through the G.I. Bill. He worked as a social studies teacher in the East Islip, New York School District and as a librarian at the West Babylon, New York Junior High School. He then worked for the State of New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped in Trenton, N.J. before being hired as head librarian at Rockville High School in Vernon, Connecticut in 1971, a position that involved supervision of the town's other public school libraries. He retired in 1992.

He leaves behind his five children, George W. Layng of Westfield, Mass., Kathleen P. Layng of Chicago, Ill.; Dorothy Seelye of Harwinton, Edyth McClure of Southbury, and Lynda Tama of Hoboken, N.J. He also leaves behind Kevin McGuire of Wantagh, N.Y., son of Doris. He leaves seven grandchildren, Hannah and Kate Seelye, of Harwinton, Haley and Heather McClure of Southbury, Aidan Layng, of Westfield, Mass. and Edward and Maureen McGuire, of Wantagh, N.Y. He is survived by one brother, George R. Layng of Ramsey, N.J.; several cousins, more than a dozen nieces and nephews, and his friends, William Koenig of Norwich, N.Y., Joseph Driscoll of Hicksville, N.Y., James Dinnan of Athens, Ga., and Bernard Kassett of Tolland.

Calling hours will be held at the Firtion-Adams Funeral Home, 76 Broad Street, Westfield on Wednesday, July 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.

A funeral mass will be held on Thursday at St. Peter Church in Westfield at 9 a.m. and burial will be on Thursday afternoon in Holy Cross Cemetery, in Brooklyn, N.Y.