Donations can be made in Bill's name for Josie's Scholarship Fund via the John Theiseen Foundation at www.jtcf.org/make-a-donation. Please indicate Josie Carlo in the space provided for Donation Designation.

William Thomas Carlo, 37, of Long Beach, NY, passed away on October 5, 2024. Bill was born in Rockville Centre, NY on November 18, 1986, and spent most of his life on Long Island. Bill’s charm and ability to connect with everyone around him led him to the hospitality industry after completing his studies at Hofstra University. Bill was a rare soul. His thirst for knowledge and purpose was outmatched only by his love for people. Once you crossed his path, he never lost sight of you. He tracked our life’s struggles, successes, and failures, never turning his back. Without expectation, he made time for hundreds and hundreds of us with a focus that filled our hearts. He recognized that his attention had the potential to change the course of a day, a situation, a life, and he was beyond generous with it. Nowhere was his devotion more extraordinary than with his family. He doted on his nieces and nephews and connected with them in ways few adults could. He referred to them as “his boys” and “his girls”. He loved and was so proud of Ryan, Sean, TJ, Isabelle, Tess and Luca, all of whom knew Uncle Bill would help any of them when in need, lift their spirits when they were down, and always make them laugh. He looked up to his brother Tom in ways that written words cannot adequately explain; he shared life’s joys and struggles with his sister Melissa. He cared deeply for his mother Karen, and honored the memory of his father William, whom he lost just as Bill became an adult.

Bill found his purpose in life when he met Lauren Valente, of course as he was serving drinks behind a bar in Merrick, New York. After a stint in Los Angeles—where during COVID he, true to form, stayed connected to people by serving Zeppoles through their apartment window—Bill and Lauren returned to Long Island, married, and moved to Mattituck and then just off the beach in Long Beach, NY. It was in Long Beach that Bill’s lifelong dream of being a father was fulfilled by the birth of his daughter, Josephine “Josie” Carlo. Bill threw himself into being Josie’s dad in a way that all fathers should model. While his run was short, he crammed a lifetime of love for Josie into nearly three years. The family asks that, in the years to come, you help them remind Josie of that love with the same focus and attention that Bill gave to all of us. For those who prefer, please email memories of Bill to memoriesofbillcarlo@gmail.com, where they will be preserved in a book for Josie to read when she is older. Bill was preceded in death by his father, William Carlo. Bill is survived by his wife Lauren Carlo (nee Valente) and daughter Josephine Carlo, mother Karen Carlo (nee Knigge), brother Thomas (Cara) Carlo and sister Melissa (Anthony) DeMaio, nephews Ryan Carlo, Sean Carlo, TJ Carlo and Luca Curcio, nieces Isabelle DeMaio and Tess Curcio, mother and father-in-law Susan and Louis Valente, and sister-in-law Gabrielle (Louis) Curcio.

A celebration of life memorial service will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2024, at Charles J. O’Shea Funeral Home, 603 Wantagh Avenue, Wantagh, New York; (516) 731-5550. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Bill’s name for Josie’s college fund through the John Theiseen Foundation at www.jtcf.org/make-a-donation. Please indicate “Josie Carlo” in the space provided for Donation Designation.