June 4, 1927 - September 5, 2023
William Arthur Willard, 96, of Bradenton, Florida died peacefully on Tuesday, September 5th, 2023, surrounded by his family.
William was born on June 4th, 1927, in Massachusetts. He was raised in Dorchester, a neighborhood of Boston, with his parents and sister.
After graduating from Dorchester High School during World War II, William joined the U.S. Navy. After boot camp, he was shipped out to the island of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean.
In 1946, he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy and returned home. He attended the Brown & Sharp Technical School in Providence, Rhode Island and then began his professional career as a draftsman at Wadell Machine Company followed by the Hillyer Machine Company. In October of 1949, William married Mary Lou McKowen and built their first house themselves in Randolph, Massachusetts. They went on to have two children: Drew and Judy.
The family relocated to New Jersey after William accepted a new position as a project engineer at the Ruesch Machine Tool Company, where he spent the next 20 years of his career. Soon after the move, they had two more children: Jeffrey and Janice. Plainfield became their home base for raising the family and a wide variety of pets. During this time, they acquired several rental properties and created the Willard ERA Realty Company.
After retiring from Ruesch, William focused on maintaining his business and the various rental properties in the North Plainfield area. Retirement also gave him a chance to spend time with his 6 grandchildren. The couple eventually became snowbirds and split their seasons between the Poconos in Pennsylvania and sunny Bradenton, Florida.
In his spare time, William enjoyed working on house projects, fixing cars, family camping trips, playing golf, bowling in the church league, and watching sports, especially the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, New York Yankees, New York Giants, and in his later years, the Tampa Bay Rays and Buccaneers. He was a longtime member of the United Church of Christ in New Jersey followed by Pennsylvania then Florida.
William is survived by his wife of 74 years, Mary Lou Willard; his four children: Rev. Drew Willard (and partner Johanna Wolenski), Judy (and husband Robert) Dwyer, Jeffrey (and wife Elaine) Willard, and Janice (and husband Joseph) Green; and 6 grandchildren: Kaitlyn Dwyer, Kirsten (and husband Drew) Eisenhauer, Joshua (and wife Lauren) Green, Emily Willard, Jennifer (and husband Ryan) Weiland, and Julianne Green; and 1 great-granddaughter: Skylar Green. He was predeceased by his parents Louis and Dorothy Willard as well as his sister Virginia.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Wounded Warriors Project to help veterans that were disabled during their military service. Information on how to donate can be found on www.support.woundedwarriorproject.org.
