Obituary of John Armstrong Cavanagh

John Armstrong Cavanagh passed away on Monday, Nov. 26, in Manhasset, NY at the age of 77. Born in Brooklyn to parents Lester Armstrong Cavanagh and Elizabeth Eugenia LaBorde, John spent his childhood in Brooklyn and Queens, and graduated from Brooklyn Tech High School. He received an Associate's Degree from the University of Oklahoma, and studied at Pratt Institute and the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York. John married Barbara Lee Howard, daughter of Wendell Keith Howard and Velda Mae Davis in 1955. John was an employee and protg of Carl Morse, and was President and COO of Morse Diesel International Inc., and later Vice Chairman of AMEC Construction Management, Inc. He spent his life in the construction trade, and was one of many people who built the Manhattan skyline. He worked on the Pan Am Building, 77 Water St., Rockefeller University's New Research Laboratory, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, USAir Terminal at LaGuardia Airport, Terminal One and Four at JFK Airport, the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History, New York Stock Exchange, the Marriot Marquis Hotel and countless more. Projects outside of Manhattan include the Sears Tower and McCormick Place in Chicago, Franklin Mills Outlet Shopping Center in Philadelphia, a BART light rail project in San Francisco, and Orion Power's Astoria Generating Repowering Project , to name a few. John served on the board of the Contractor's Association of Greater New York since its inception in 1984 and in 2001 was honored by the organization with a scholarship program in his name. He was also on the Board of Directors of the New York Building Congress, a member of the City of New York Mayor's Construction Advisory Council, President of New York's Building Trades Employers' Association, a member of the New York Building Department's Site Safety Committee and the New York Real Estate Board. He was on the Board of Directors of the regional Alliance for Small Minority and Women-Owned Contractors, Non-traditional Employment for Women and the New York Building Foundation. He was also on the board of Construction Skills 2000, an organization of the School Construction Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York City Board of Education and the Building and Construction Trades Council, all working together to promote apprenticeship opportunities with local unions and New York high school students. He was also on the board of the ACE Mentoring Program. While working with AMEC Construction Management, John led one of the four cleanup sites at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. John was also a Trustee of the Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center and has been instrumental in the development of their new center in Yonkers, New York. John was the President of American Fire Suppressant Fire Products, Inc, Cavanagh/Stewart International, Inc., and John A. Cavanagh Consulting Services. He was also a partner in Integrated Structural Systems, Inc. and NEWCO Ventures, LLC. John is survived by his wife Barbara, three children; Connie (Paul) Deering of North Merrick, Nancy (Jerry) Maliwesky of Syracuse, and Sean (Joanne) Cavanagh of Matawan, NJ; and four grandchildren; Ian and Cathaline Deering and Jack and Christian Cavanagh.