Levittown Native Thomas McLaughlin Passes Away

Levittown native Thomas McLaughlin recently passed away at the age of 56. 

McLaughlin was an artist in Souther California, working as an independent animator with Warner Bros. Studios and the Cartoon Network.

The former Jones Beach lifeguard was born in Brooklyn in 1957 and grew up in Levittown, according to Newsday.

"By the time he was a young boy he knew he would be an animator and drew constantly, his sister said. After graduating from Division Avenue High School in 1976, he attended visual arts schools in Manhattan and Long Island.

McLaughlin worked at Jones Beach as a lifeguard between 1978 and 1990 while working in New York City as an animator for such companies as Warner Bros., Pee Wee Herman's Playhouse, and Stan Lee, Duffy said. 

During this time he also worked as a bartender at some of Long Island's most famous watering holes of that day including Buttle's, Brightfellow's and Coco's."