Obituary of Emmet J. Agoglia

The family of Emmet Agoglia is saddened to announce his passing after a brief battle with leukemia at the age of 87. Emmet of Lattingtown, NY is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Kathleen Carroll, and their seven children Christine, Kevin, Margaret, Michael, Barbara, Elizabeth, and Kathleen. He was the adoring grandfather of 14 grandchildren, Abigail, Rachel, Kalin, Nicholas and Peter Agoglia; Georgia, Emma and Jack Holland; Michela and Alexandra Agoglia; William and Samuel O’Connor; and Joseph and James Graziadei, and a loving brother to Gertrude Agoglia and Sr. Eileen Agoglia CSJ. He was the loving father in law of Dianne Ledlie Agoglia, Rose Gillen, Kevin O’Connor, Michael Graziadei, and the late Craig Holland.

A child of Loretta and Gerard Agoglia, Emmet was born and raised in St. Thomas Aquinas parish in South Brooklyn, where he worked for the Brooklyn Eagle to pay for his tuition at St. Francis Prep.

Emmet and Carroll met on a New Year’s Eve blind date and were married a year later, raising their seven children in Rockville Centre. Emmet was never happier than when presiding over boisterous family gatherings with fine food and wine, where the discussions, while often loud and spirited, were always grounded in St. Francis’s reminder to live life with “a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.”

Always active in mind and body, Emmet enjoyed working in his garden or on his beloved farm in Roxbury. He was an avid swimmer, a tennis player, a golfer, and a passionate reader. A man of strong Catholic faith Emmet was a daily communicant and was happiest at Sunday mass with his family or in a simple moment of quiet prayer.

Emmet attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn where he later served as a member of the Board of Trustees and established the Emmet J. and Carroll Agoglia scholarship.  He then served in the US Army in Europe as a reporter for Stars and Stripes. After completing his education at St. John’s Law School Emmet worked as an attorney at Riley & Riley before establishing his own practice in 1965, which would become Agoglia, Holland & Agoglia, PC. Focusing on the areas of injury and malpractice Emmet was a fierce advocate for his clients and named by Harvard Law School as one of the nation’s one hundred top attorneys. He was a member of the Nassau County Bar Association, NYS Bar Association and the International Association of Trial Lawyers. Emmet served as the Chair of New York State Bar Association’s Special Committee on Volunteer Lawyers, and provided pro bono legal counsel to residents at Covenant House.

His many volunteer and charitable endeavors reflected his belief in the powers of faith, family and education. Emmet served as Board President of New Ground, a charity dedicated to ending the cycle of poverty and family homelessness. He was a generous supporter of churches, schools, orphanages and scholarships around the world and was a mentor to numerous young people.

Visitation at Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home of Glen Cove. Funeral Mass at St. Gertrude RC Church of Bayville. Interment at Locust Valley Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the Agoglia family requests donations be made to St. John’s Bread & Life https://www.breadandlife.org/donate/now, to help alleviate hunger and poverty in Brooklyn and Queens