Fergus O'Daly Obituary July 20, 2014 Fergus O'Daly Jr., 71, of Northport, N.Y. passed away on July 22, 2014. Fergus was born to the late Fergus Sr. and Mary (King) O'Daly, March 5, 1943 in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he grew up with the vibrancy that accompanies being the fifth of 10 children. Fergus' siblings: Lawrence (deceased), Brian, Kevin, Barry (deceased), Michael, James, Mary, Kathleen and Annie. It was also in Brooklyn that Fergus as a young adult met Anita (Holst), with whom he would share 50 years of marriage. As a young family they moved to Long Island and have enjoyed calling the harbor village of Northport their home for the past 45 years. Fergus is survived by his four children: Christine (Michael) DiLandro, Bridget (John) Tarleton, Peggy (Eric) Colby and Fergus III. Fergus was blessed with six grandchildren who are a true reflection of his heart: Matthew, Brendan, Jack, Justin, Perry and Ansley. As a young man, Fergus had a passion for art and design. Fortune stepped in when his eldest brother helped him get a summer job as an assistant in the art department of a small ad shop. And so at age 16 the die was cast -- Fergus knew advertising would be his passion and decided success would be found on a drawing board in the art department. He went on to take nighttime art classes at Pratt while working in the mailroom at BBD&O. Hard work always paid off for Fergus, and a year later he was promoted to the art department - where he earned that drawing board. He then joined DeGarmo in New York where he met Fred Poppe. Fred saw the talent in a young Fergus and asked him to join the newly spun-off Poppe Tyson, a small B2B agency. At 'Poppe,' Fergus had the canvas to fuel his potential and grew to take on the roles of Creative Director, President and finally CEO. Under Fergus' leadership, Poppe Tyson produced great work for such notable clients as Bethlehem Steel, Pfizer, Ridgewood Banking, Carter Wallace, Otis Elevator, Union Carbide and, of course, several of New York City's finest steak houses, including Ben Benson's and Smith and Wolinsky's (where Fergus was always greeted warmly). However, equally important to the work was the relationships and culture that Fergus fostered among employees, clients and vendor partners - this was his hallmark. As the advertising business evolved, Fergus was there - he had a vision to build the first interactive ad agency and was relentless in convincing Poppe's parent company, Bozell Jacobs Kenyon & Eckhart, to take the gamble. His conviction gave birth to DoubleClick, the first online media company, and Poppe.com, later known as Poppe Interactive and regarded for many firsts in the digital marketing era. In 1994 Poppe was among the first agencies to create their own website to solicit work, and within 90 days Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and others hired them for Internet branding projects. Poppe is also credited with creating and selling the first banner ad in 1995 (for AT&T Corp, running on the Netscape browser). Fergus would later go on to found FODA (Fergus O'Daly & Associates), which excelled at digital solutions for brands including: IBM, Coty Inc., IEEE, HP, Toshiba and many others. A few of Fergus' credits include: President of the IBMA; New York Mag "Cyber 60," 1995; Marketing Computers magazine High-Tech Agency of the Year, 1995; founder of DoubleClick, 1996; Ad Age named Fergus the elder statesman of the "Three New Goliaths of the Internet," 1997; Ad Week's Agency of the Year, 1998. Fergus also held several board positions. But Fergus was much more than an ad guy/Internet guy. He drew his strength from family and friends. Growing up in a large family, he developed a strong sense of humor among many other survival skills. He was a partner to Anita and an always-proud Dad. As a friend, he could be counted on to lift spirits, with a joke or Irish song never far from his lips. He enjoyed the pulse of Manhattan, the tides of Northport, sailing on the Chesapeake, the inns of Ireland, an early tee time, walks with Molly and the Jersey Shore with family. Reposing Nolan & Taylor-Howe Funeral Home, 5 Laurel Avenue Northport, Friday 2-5 and 7-9 PM and Saturday 10-12 Noon, with the Service at 11 AM. Private cremation to follow. In lieu of flowers donations to V.N.S. Hospice "Hospice House", 505 Main Street, Northport, NY 11768, in Fergus' memory would be appreciated.