PR Pro Bill Bongiorno Remembered by Colleagues, Clients

William “Bill” Bongiorno, a longtime and highly regarded public relations professional serving the financial industry and an active volunteer in his hometown of Lewisboro, New York, has died.

Bongiorno, founder of Blue Chip PR, worked in communications since 1992. He started the South Salem, New York-based firm in September 2004, according to his LinkedIn profile, which also notes that he worked as an actor — playing the role of a print reporter in the HBO movie “Paterno,” which starred Al Pacino, for instance.

“I have known Bill personally for over 25 years and had a wonderful working relationship with him,” said Janet Vasquez, founder and president of JVPRNY.

“When I started my own agency 13 years ago, Bill became our strategic partner,” she told ThinkAdvisor via email. ”I had worked with Bill when he was an account manager at [the firm] Mount & Nadler in the late ’90s. At Blue Chip PR, we worked on a number of campaigns together. Bill was the consummate  professional.”

David Goldstone, manager of investment research at Condor Capital Wealth Management, which Blue Chip PR represented, explained that Bongiorno “was a talented and well-respected man. I worked with Bill for years, and he not only helped us build great relationships through his work, he was a pleasure to be around.

“He was a bright, energetic and positive man, and will be greatly missed,” Goldstone added via email.