Good News Translation has a stanza break here to avoid a long section. Translators may follow it or not.

But these were men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten: At this point ben Sira begins to write about famous Israelites. These men refers to the men who will be named in 44.16–50.21. Good News Translation does not seem to realize this, and its translation is confusing. New Jerusalem Bible is good here: “But here is a list of illustrious men whose good works have not been forgotten.” Revised English Bible is even clearer with “But not so our forefathers, men true to their faith, whose virtuous deeds have not been forgotten.”

Men of mercy is a literal translation. New English Bible “men of loyalty,” Revised English Bible “men true to their faith,” Good News Translation “godly men,” and Contemporary English Version “ancestors … faithful to God” are translating the Greek in light of the Hebrew. We recommend this.

A possible model for this verse is:

• But here is a list of men who were faithful to the Lord [or, served the Lord faithfully],
whose righteous [or, good] deeds have never been forgotten [or, are still remembered].

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.