Milton Costell, age 93 years, of Middle Island, NY, longtime Stony Brook, NY resident, died peacefully on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at home, surrounded by his beloved and devoted wife, Sydell, and his cherished family.

He was preceded in death by his father, James Costello in 1977; his mother, Trixie Costello in 1993; his brother, Alfred Costello in 2018; his sister-in-law, Nancy Costello in 2013; and a grandson, David Costell in 2007.

Surviving are his devoted wife, Sydell Costell; his children and their spouses, Judith and Daniel Wright, Central Islip, NY, Arnold Costell, Malibu, CA, Alan and Sibyl Costell, Ridge, NY, Joshua and Elizabeth Costell, Long Branch, NJ, Jeffrey and Cynthia Costell, Hidden Hills, CA, Ira Costell, Port Jefferson Station, NY, and Deborah and Peter Englezos, Setauket, NY; his grandchildren, D.J. Wright, Lisa and William Czech, James and Kristin Englezos, DeAnna Englezos and her partner, Karl Weiss, Rachael Costell, Alexandra Englezos, Melissa Costell, Corinne Costell, Justin Costell, Juliet Costell, and Chloe Costell; his three great grandchildren, Thomas James Czech, Emerson Ava Weiss, and Kaitlyn Rose Czech; several nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family; and many dear friends around the world.

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A tribute to Papa from his son, Ira: 

“Milton Costell, PE was a nationally renowned Engineer who specialized in the Aquatics industry as one of the first “Pool Consultants” in the country. He graduated in 1948 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York (CCNY) and worked for a period in the Midwest at Chicago Bridge and Iron designing water tanks. He retuned to the NY area and settled on Long Island to start a family in the 1950’s and was an early contributor to the fledgling underground water sprinkler industry. In the early 1960’s, an associate asked Milton to get involved with a pool for a pioneer of the modern health club called Vic Tanny’s. Vic was a famous bodybuilder in the mold of the more famous Jack LaLanne. Milton designed several pools across the region for Vic Tanny’s and began to specialize in this area as the focus of his practice by 1966.

Milton went on to design a number of High Schools on Long Island in the late 60’s and early 1970’s including Ward Melville HS, Deer Park HS, Half Hollow Hills, Central Islip and the Town of Brookhaven Mastic Natatorium. As an inventor, Milton held at least 3 patents, including one for the RIMFLOW system I produce and sell to this day. This design innovation, of which WMHS was one of the first in the country, created a modular deck-level coping overflow which brought Milton attention in the rest of the country due to the safety, ease of entry, unique look, efficient hydraulics, and fast pool for competition events. Perhaps his most notable commission was in 1976 as Pool Consultant on the Jamail Texas Swim Center at the University of Texas at Austin. This multimillion dollar facility (photo attached) utilized the same coping as at WM with many BCAA and World Records for swimming set at that pool. It has been the site of many NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships as well as US Time Trials to qualify for several Olympics. In his career, Milton designed many dozens of facilities including pools at High Schools, YMCA’s, Universities and Colleges as well as many municipal Park Districts from coast to coast. Milton also achieved notoriety and advances in related fields including lighting, soil mechanics, specification writing, solar energy and quite notably as a Forensic Expert. Milton appeared as a witness in many legal cases involving diving injury accidents and drownings helping secure judgments in the millions of dollars for the clients whose lives were tragically altered by design flaws and the malpractice of other professionals. In fact, diving boards are no longer sold on backyard pools of a certain depth due to his technical studies proving it was unsafe to do so without a much deeper and longer diving hopper than the 8’ depth for only a 4’x4’ square area 6 feet out from the board on most vinyl liner pools at the time.

In addition to his professional endeavors, Milton was a man of many interests and activities. He was a beekeeper and winemaker, an inveterate jogger since 1969, loved the opera, flying stunt kites, played the trombone and loved traveling with my Mom. He was heavily involved with the Lions Club and served as a local and regional President in the Wantagh and Massapequa Park area for many years. He was a CSI Fellow (Construction Specification Institute) and involved in many other professional organizations.

However, more to the immediate point for his connection to WMHS, my Dad raised 4 children as Stony Brook resident since 1965, all of whom attended WMHS and also had 6 grandchildren who lived locally and were part of the TVSD system. Not only did my dad design the original pool, he was instrumental in the redesign and renovation which I participated in several years ago where he pioneered the special Air Curtain system which keeps visitors and bathers comfortable. During the initial project in 1968, there was not enough money to move forward with the project so Milton had the bright idea of seeking a Federal Grant for $250,000 to designate the natatorium as a bomb shelter. He liked to say, if there was ever an emergency drill, “Everyone in the Pool!”

It is important to note, Milton put untold hours over many years, sometimes on a weekly basis to ensure the proper operation and maintenance of the pool. Whenever there was a problem or an issue, Jack Foley would be on the phone with my Dad and he would be there the very next day if possible. My parents were long time members of the North Shore Jewish Center and since the early 70’s, Milton was notorious for “just stopping by for a few minutes” on Saturday after Temple services. These “few minutes” often stretched to multiple hours as Milton would keep my Mom waiting while he programmed this or fiddled with that. It was a labor of love for him and he developed a strong friendship with AD Jack and Coach Bill Foley. In fact, Milton sponsored a number of Awards Dinners for the WMHS Swim Team which awarded him with a plaque of appreciation in 1974. Milton’s reach and impact extended even further as he was instrumental in helping Phoebe (Williams) Anderson secure her teaching position as well as the custodial services of John Schmiemann (who did odd jobs around my home as a young kid) as both were recommended to Jack Foley at the time. John credits Milton with teaching him everything he knows in maintaining and operating the pool for over 25 years.”

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Given the current gathering restrictions, funeral services officiated by Rabbi Aaron Benson will be private on Sunday, July 12, 2020 under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ 08822.

Burial will follow on Sunday in the family plot at Beth Moses Cemetery, Farmingdale, NY.

Please visit Milton’s permanent memorial site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a memorial candle, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of his life.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Milton’s honor may be made to Hope House Ministries via mail to 1 High Street, Port Jefferson, NY 11777, or online by clicking HERE.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”