Paul Cooney, a longtime New York state and Albany County engineer who helped build many major bridges, highways and stadiums in the region, died at 88 on Jan. 22 after a long cancer battle.

Paul Cooney, a Union College graduate and licensed professional engineer and surveyor, was a quintessential engineer who engineered his own obituary as if designing a highway.

Paul Cooney on a visit to the Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston. He often visited other engineering projects and brought his daughter along.

Paul and Phyllis Cooney with their children, Kate Knight and Patrick Cooney.

Paul and Phyllis Cooney, who wed in 1959.

Paul Cooney, a longtime New York state and Albany County engineer who helped build many major bridges, highways and stadiums in the region, died at 88 on Jan. 22 after a long cancer battle.

MENANDS — When Paul Cooney’s daughter summed up her father’s life as a licensed professional engineer and surveyor by profession and Good Samaritan by temperament, she settled on a quote by Mister Rogers.

“Look for the helpers,” Fred Rogers said, advice made famous as a refuge in hard times.

Cooney, who died on Jan. 22 at 88 after a long struggle with cancer, was a foundational helper. He built infrastructure and created connective tissue that binds a community — the unsung and quotidian, small deeds he did without seeking credit.

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“If someone in the village had an accident or needed help, they called my dad because he was a reassuring presence and knew how to get things done,” said his daughter, Kate Knight, 52. As a girl, she loved to visit his DOT office on Holland Avenue and raid a supply of lemon drops in his desk.

He worked long hours but made time to read her bedtime stories. “The Rescuers” was her favorite, a British children’s novel about mice assisting human prisoners. Her dad conjured silly voices.

“He’d fall asleep reading me the book and........

© Times Union