Harry P. Doherty, who had been active in the banking industry for nearly four decades and was the chairman of America's Community Bankers three years ago, died Saturday of Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 65.
As the chairman and chief executive officer of Staten Island Bancorp in New York, Mr. Doherty presided over the $7.6 billion-asset company's April 2004 sale to Independence Community Bank Corp. of Brooklyn for $1.8 billion.
After the sale, Mr. Doherty became the vice chairman of the $18 billion-asset Independence until his retirement in June 2006, when Sovereign Bancorp of Philadelphia bought Independence.
Mr. Doherty started his career in 1967 at Staten Island Savings Bank, now operating as SI Bank and Trust, a division of Sovereign Bank.
He was involved in the Community Bankers of New York State, in addition to America's Community Bankers, a trade group that recently merged with the American Bankers Association. He served several terms as a director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.
According to a story published Sunday in the Staten Island Advance, Mr. Doherty
