Obituary of Thomas A. Batira

Thomas A. Batira, 86, of LaGrangeville, New York, peacefully passed away on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 surrounded by loved ones, after a challenging illness at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie.

Thomas was born on May 5, 1934, to Anthony Batira and Genevieve Tabaczyński in the Polish neighborhood of 594 Humbolt Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn and later moving to 84 Holly Avenue, Hempstead on Long Island. Tom attended California Avenue Elementary and later Hempstead High, before pursuing his Bachelors of Business Administration degree at Hofstra in 1957, followed by a Masters of Business Administration from New York University.

Tom earned two military honorable discharges from the United States Navy Reserves in both September 1955 and April 1963 before starting work locally for Amplex, Gruman, and General Electric in Albany.  Tom also enjoyed played saxophone and clarinet when forming The Melody Cavaliers, a swing band who performed at Palm Gardens and local long island venues while paying for college.

After graduation, he started in government and business procurement before working for IBM for 30 years. Thomas was passionate about contract writing as well as boating and enjoyed what he did for a living.

In 1961, he met his future wife, Diane Graney at a mutual friend's wedding, and later both married on May 6th, 1962.

After formally retiring in 1990, Tom additionally worked on supplemental and short-term contractual assignments for IBM once more. While retired, Thomas had time to pursue his love of cooking, traveling, and sharing time with family and friends.

He is survived by his wife Diane, their son, Michael, and his wife, Jessica Batira, and grandchildren, Garrett, Everett, and Colette Batira.

A funeral service will be held at Straub Catalano & Halvey Funeral Home, 55 East Main Street in Wappingers Falls at 10 a.m. on Monday, April 12, 2021. Interment will follow in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, New York.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Lustgarten Foundation for Research (https://lustgarten.org) or the American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org).

To send the family a personal condolence or for directions, please visit our website at www.StraubCatalanoHalvey.com.