FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 30, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
obituaries
Long Island centenarian, formerly of Fresh Meadows, dies of COVID-19
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e COVID-19 pandemic claimed the
life of a charter member of the Greatest
Generation when 100-year-old World
War II veteran Philip Kahn died on April
17 at his Westbury, Long Island home.
He fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima and
later served as a chief fl ight engineer and
co-pilot on a Boeing B-29 Superfortress
during the months-long fi rebombing of
Tokyo and performed aerial surveying of
the damage done by the atomic bombs
that were dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
Kahn earned two Bronze Stars and
he was awarded a campaign medal for
Service in the Asiatic-Pacifi c Th eater, a
Former Queens Chamber of Commerce President Albert Pennisi loses cancer battle
BY BILL PARRY
never shied away from controversy and
community level, creating merchant associations
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
he took on big projects and he did them
to help spur economic growth
well, always with a professional smile and
across the borough and helping the city
Former Queens Chamber of Commerce
a fi rm handshake.”
reach international markets.
President Albert Pennisi died Th ursday,
Santucci knew Pennisi for more than
Pennisi was passionate about advocating
April 23, aft er a valiant two-year battle
30 years and admired his commitment to
for his clients and was committed
with pancreatic cancer, according to his
the businesses of the borough.
to community development. He also
family.
“Al preceded me as president
served as a trustee of Plaza College.
Pennisi, 79, died at his home, surrounded
of the Queens
Plaza College president Charles
by his loved ones.
Chamber of Commerce,”
E. Callahan called Pennisi a valued
Born in 1940, Pennisi served in the
former QCC President
member of the school’s board
U.S. Army Reserve from 1962 to 1968
Carol Consalato said. “I
who played a critical role in its
and as a New York State Trooper from
remember aft er I was elected
transition from Jackson Heights
1963 to 1966. He graduated from St.
Al couldn’t do enough to
to its current location in Forest
John’s University Law School in 1966 and
help and ensure a smooth
Hills.
practiced corporate real estate and trust
transition. He loved the
“Al Pennisi was truly the ‘lawyer’
and estates law for more than 50 years.
Chamber and he truly loved
lawyer. He had a tremendously
Pennisi served two terms as president
Queens.”
warm and caring personality
of the Queens Chamber of Commerce
U n d e r
wrapped in the ultimate
(QCC) and sat on its board of directors
Pe n n i s i’s
level of class and
until he passed.
leadership,
style,” Callahan
“Al was so committed to the Chamber’s
the Queens
said. “His guidance,
growth that aft er he was term-limited out
Chamber of
counsel
aft er eight years he still wanted to serve as
Commerce
and friendship
our general counsel and he did that pro
increased
will be missed by
bono,” Queens Chamber of Commerce
its influence
many, especially
Chairman Th omas Santucci said. “He
at the
the administration
and board of trustees at Plaza
College.”
Pennisi also served as president of the
Queens Botanical Gardens and sat on
numerous boards of directors. He was
also an active member of the Queens
Real Estate Board, the Queens Bar
Association and the New York State Bar
Association.
Pennisi was honored by Th e Queens
Courier and Queens Business Today as a
“King of Queens” for his leadership in the
business community.
“Al was my real estate lawyer, friend
and mentor,” Schneps Media President
and Publisher Victoria Schneps said. “He
was a well-deserved King of Queens and a
class act as a gentleman who I was proud
to call a friend.”
Pennisi was a longtime fundraiser for
various charities including the American
Cancer Society. Pennisi is survived by his
wife Anette, and their two children and
four grandchildren.
A funeral Mass and memorial service
to celebrate his life well lived will be held
when the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
victory medal, the overseas service medal,
and a medal for sharpshooting.
Following the war, Kahn settled in Fresh
Meadows with his wife Rose, where they
raised two daughters before moving to
Long Island in the early 1970s.
“He was a remarkable man; he was
literally a living history,” his grandson
Warren Zysman said. “He met Colonel
Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay.
Th e two of them spoke and shook hands
just before that mission.”
Kahn had two older brothers who also
survived the war: one fought in the Battle
of the bulge and the other took part in
the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Kahn’s
death came a century aft er his twin brother
succumbed to the Spanish fl u soon
aft er his birth in 1919.
“Here he was, at age 100, still walking
up to three miles a day. He was so fi t
both mentally and physically that we felt
we had at least another decade with him,”
Zysman said. “He had some symptoms
and his doctor had him tested at home
and he died later that day. It was only later
that we found out he tested positive for
COVID-19.”
In addition to his service in the Pacifi c
Th eater, where he rose to the rank of
Sergeant, Kahn was an avid photographer.
“He saw the Intrepid as it was bombed
by the Japanese and those photos are on
permanent display at the Intrepid Sea,
Air & Sea Museum,” Zysman said. “He
also has a photo archive at the Cradle of
Aviation Museum in Garden City and his
oral account of his experiences during
World War II is now a part of the Library
of Congress.”
Kahn worked as an electrical foreman
with Local 3 and helped build the World
Trade Center and the fi rst New York
Blood Bank. He enjoyed swimming and
ballroom dancing and taught his grandchildren
how to roller skate.
“In the years aft er the war he was able
to combine ballroom dancing with roller
skating professionally,” Zysman said. “He
was a professional dancer paid to dance at
roller rinks. He was still in his 60s and he
would roller dance with all these college
kids and he would skate circles around
them all.”
Kahn’s wife of 73 years, Rose, died last
summer. He is survived by his daughter
Lynn Zysman and her husband Simon
and six grandchildren.
He was buried at New Montefi ore
Cemetery in West Babylon.
Albert F. Pennisi
Photos courtesy of Warren Zysman
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
