William Bill Watt

William (Bill) Watt was born in Glasgow Scotland to William and Rebecca Watt (née Robertson) on 20 January 1928. He was the third of 5 children, with siblings John, James, Jean and George.

As a youth Bill, nicknamed ‘Wee’ Wullie. The name was given to him by his father who was known as ‘Wullie.’ Bill grew up in difficult times, the Great Depression and WWII loomed large in his formative years. As a youth, he worked many jobs including a favourite of delivering milk to his neighbourhood. A great delicacy of the era was the cream that separated and floated at the top of the milk bottles. The mischievous ‘Wee’ Wullie took great joy in ‘sampling’ this cream!

Of course, Bill’s first love was football (soccer), where he excelled as a left back for many, many teams, often playing for several teams on the same day! Though his active playing career slowed after marriage, his love of football never dimmed.

Bill had another lifelong appreciation of math. In school in Scotland, Bill maths were favoured subjects, and even during his life in Canada he remained engaged, with math and electronics a focus of his adult education, and as hobbies.

During WWII, like many children in areas of the UK subjected to bombing raids, Bill would scour the streets after these raids collecting the shrapnel that fell in the streets to see who could collect the most interesting pieces.

After WWII ended, Bill entered a welding apprenticeship in the shipyards of the Clydebank. His tutelage was interrupted by his call up for UK National Service (NS). He joined the Army and was posted to the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers). Bill spent his time in the army handling welding torches and tools as opposed to firearms; although he did have to keep his rifle close-at-hand at all times and ‘never’ fall asleep on guard duty. He served most of his NS in the Middle East, particularly in Palestine before Partition. Bill was able to see most of the historically famous landmarks and cities of the region. His greatest personal achievement from his National Service was the ability to exploit his skill for languages, learning to communicate in Arabic with the locals. He continued to use his Arabic with anyone he heard speaking the language right up to the time of his passing.

Even in the NS, Bill’s love of football could not be extinguished. In fact, some of his service was spent working in the Officer’s Mess. This gave Bill weekends off, which allowed him to play football. A division vehicle would collect him and transport him to the field. These excursions provided Bill with some of the most indelible memories, ones he was always eager to share, and which always brought a smile to his face.

Following his NS, it was time to re-enter civilian life. He completed his apprenticeship training, becoming a skilled sheet metal worker. At the same time, he joined his brother in attending the local dances, the era’s main entertainment for young adults. There, he met one of his brother’s friends, Mary Margaret Toole. Along the way, their friendship grew into love and then marriage.

On February 27, 1954, William and Mary married in Glasgow. Why this date? Well, there was a tax break at the time for the previous year if you got married by the end of February, hence February 27 as the marriage date. After nine months and one day, daughter Carolyn was born. Bill, Mary and Carolyn lived with Mary’s parents for the first 3 years of marriage. During this period William enjoyed the attention of his new sisters-in-law, who continued to love him madly right up to this day. He had that effect on people throughout his life.

The year 1957 brought another major life change. Bill took his skills and emigrated to Canada. He landed in Toronto and lived on his own for several months in order to get established. He then brought over his young family.

Early days in Toronto were spent in the Yonge, Mount Pleasant and Eglinton area, living in several apartments. In May 1958, son Kenneth was born in Canada. One of the highlights of this time was the unexpected, but delightful, coincidence that Bill and Mary, mostly Mary, shopped for groceries in the same supermarket as many Toronto Maple Leaf hockey players. This helped Bill become an ardent hockey fan. This did not diminish his love of football. Instead, Bill tried to apply football (soccer) strategy to how hockey should be played.

For entertainment, Bill and Mary enjoyed 5-pin bowling, becoming champions within their group. Bill also took up golf, becoming an accomplished player, especially around the green. Club members who were 50 years his junior continued to be shocked when this 80-year old beat them in the golf league.

In 1965, with Mary 8 ¾ months pregnant, the family moved to Bramalea. This was their first house and was a major financial risk at the time. But Bill and Mary worked hard to make things work for their growing family. One week to the day after moving in, David was born.

The family grew, and Bill continued his career as a sheet metal worker, soon achieving the position he held for the majority of his working career as the Plant Manager at A.G. Baird Ltd on Milvan Dr., Toronto.

At Baird’s, Bill continued his love for languages, soon learning Italian from many of his fellow workers. This relationship also germinated a desire to start making his own wine, after so many lunchtime stories with his co-workers, a desire that grew into a passion. He became a prodigious wine maker with a basement full of wine-making materials and bottles (and his whites were pretty good!).

William maintained his membership in good standing with the Sheet Metal Workers Int’l Union, Local 30, while working as the Plant Manager. He maintained good relations, and was respected, on both sides of the labour/management divide. His young family especially enjoyed many Sheet Metal Workers picnics at Centre Island. Bill eventually achieved 50 years of continuous good standing service in Local 30.

As the children grew, Bill and Mary found themselves the drivers, coaches, uniform makers and fundraisers in baton, hockey, soccer, baseball and the many other activities of their growing children. Bill stuck mostly to coaching soccer, his lifelong passion, but also ventured into assistant coaching in hockey when his neighbour Leo asked him to help. Bill drove many thousands of miles shuttling the children to the many activities, some as far away as Windsor; sometimes with stops at the hospital when one of his children zigged instead of zagging.

In Bramalea, then Brampton, Bill expanded his community involvement. Bill and Mary were very active in the Brampton Scottish Club for many years, with Bill becoming Club President. Bill often volunteered to be Santa Claus at local senior’s homes. He was often the life of the party when club events took place. Everyone loved Bill.

Bill was a passionate supporter of Glasgow Celtic. In Pollokshaws, he was a member of the Thornliebank Celtic Supporters Club. As they say, there’s none more Scot than Scots abroad … the same might be said of Glasgow Celtic supporters. Later in life, Bill loved being a member of the Bramalea Celtic Supporters Club, and always appreciated the camaraderie and lively discussions in “Coaches Corner,” before, during and certainly after viewing games of their beloved Celtic

Bill had a passion for electronics, understanding how they worked, and the gadgets themselves. He loved cameras and photography, film, video and still. He was just not blessed with an ability to frame a photo so he cut off many heads over his photographic life. He also loved many other gadgets and had a house full to prove it.

In retirement, Bill and Mary spent much time cruising and vacationing in Florida. Their car pretty well knew how to drive to Florida on its own to visit Carolyn, who worked in Florida for many years.

In the 2000’s a great joy entered Bill and Mary’s lives, 3 in fact, when their grandchildren Emma, Adeline (Addy) and Ian were born to son David and Daughter-in-law Julia Purdy. Bill always lit up when he heard “Poppa” and loved giving ‘toonies’ to his grandchildren.

The 2000’s also brought a new hip to help Bill keep his mobility freedom, although he did experience growing back and leg issues, possibly caused by his very hard but fair football style in his youth. A hard, fair, sliding tackle was a thing of beauty to Bill … as many at the Bramalea Celtic Supporters club could attest.

But the real beauty in his life was his beloved Mary. Bill loved Mary as much as one can love another, plus a little more. Bill could not stand to be separated from Mary for even a day. Right up to the end Bill was protecting, supporting, providing for and loving his beloved wife. Things were difficult over the past few years but it couldn’t shake his love.

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William Watt, beloved husband, father, father-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle and grandfather, passed suddenly at his home on February 16, 2014. He is survived by Mary (née Toole), his devoted wife of nearly 60 years, his children Carolyn, Kenneth and David, David's wife Julia Purdy, and grandchildren Emma, Adeline and Iain. William was an active and eager member of the Brampton Celtic Supporters Club, past president of the Brampton Scottish Club and a member in good standing for over 50 years of Local 30, Sheet Metal Workers. He coached sports in the Bramalea minor sports associations. Friends may call at Andrew's Community Funeral Centre - Bramalea Chapel, 8190 Dixie Rd, Brampton, ON (North of Steeles Ave) on Thursday, February 20 from 3-5 and 7-9 pm. Funeral Service in the chapel on Friday, February 21 at 11 am. Flowers are welcome, if you would like to make a donation please do so to the Alzheimer’s society of peel. For online condolences please visit www.andrewscommunityfuneralcentre.com