Paul William "Bill" Carey

Paul William "Bill" Carey, of Williamsville, NY entered into rest on June 30, 2025 at age 68. Beloved husband of Michele (nee Gonciarz) Carey; devoted father of Renee Marko, Kimberly (Charles) Ashker, Julie Carey and the late Matthew Carey; cherished stepfather of Lisa (Denis) Hussainov and Robert (Elizabeth) Pollak; adored grandfather of Isabelle, Emerson, Isaac, Benjamin, Anna, Evelyn, Samantha, Maksim, Hannah, Jack, Mila, Ronald, Madeleine and Wilhelm; loving son of Isabelle (nee Picard) and the late Paul Carey; dear brother of Donna (Fred) Saia, Mary Carey and Margaret (Jeff) Feather; also survived by many other loving relatives and friends. Relatives and friends may visit PERNA, DENGLER, ROBERTS FUNERAL HOME, 1671 Maple Rd., Williamsville, NY 14221 on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) from 4-8pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Leo the Great Church, 885 Sweet Home Rd., Amherst, NY 14226 on Wednesday (July 9, 2025) at 9am. Please assemble at church. Inurnment Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Bill was born in Buffalo, NY on November 7, 1956. He lived with his parents, Paul and Isabelle Carey, three sisters Donna, Mary and Margaret, along with a host of pets over the years: dogs Ginger and Inky, cat Princess (who was reportedly very mean and is suspected to have contributed to Bill’s negative views of the felines in later years) and turtles Batman and Robin.

Growing up Bill played youth football and baseball, made great oatmeal cookies (without using a recipe), and enjoyed photography, using the bathroom as his darkroom to develop photos. When Bill was just 10 years old, his father, Paul, passed away and Bill spent the rest of his formative years witness to the strength and resiliency of his mother, Isabelle.

In high school, Bill was in French Club and played on the tennis team, a sport he would continue to love throughout his life. He was funny, adventurous and rocked some pretty epic hairstyles through the years. He graduated from Kenmore East High School in 1974. Then, in 1978, Bill graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He earned an MBA with a concentration in finance from Canisius in 1987.

Bill was an accomplished financial professional, working in senior leadership in several financial institutions throughout Western New York and beyond, including HSBC, M&T Bank, the National Bank of Kuwait, First Niagara Bank and Flagstar Bank (where he was the Director of Consumer Finance and where he retired from in 2019). During his time at HSBC, his career took him to Hong Kong where he developed the implementation approach for chip cards within the Asia-Pacific region. Bill became a Certified Black Belt in Six Sigma through SUNY at Buffalo and then worked as the Director of Six Sigma for Erie County from 2008-2011. During this time he led teams to complete 27 projects between 2008-2009, leading to more than $7 million in savings. He had many sayings he would go back to over the years and one of his favorites on the job was: “In God we trust. All others: bring data.” Bill was dedicated to both the work he was doing, as well as the people he worked with. He took the time to invest in those around him, serving as a mentor to many over the years and teaching valuable life lessons that are still referenced to this day.

Bill married Donna in 1980 and their four children (Renee, Kimberly, Julie and Matthew) soon filled Bill’s life with dance recitals, soccer games, and slip n slides. When he moved to Hong Kong in 1993, his family came with him. This experience enabled Bill to travel throughout Asia, Europe and Australia for both business and family trips. He walked the Great Wall of China, went white water rafting in Bali, snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef and took his family on a very memorable “self-guided tour” of the Australian rainforest (where, at the end, both a beautiful waterfall and leeches greeted them). While living overseas, Bill loved to take (mostly drag) his kids on hikes in the mountains behind their Hong Kong apartment, attend live, in-home laserdisc karaoke concerts put on by his children and watch the latest Bills superbowl, weeks after the fact, when it arrived in the mail on VHS.

Every summer the family travelled to one of Bill’s favorite places: Parry Sound, Ontario. These trips were filled with fishing, boat rides to Dillon’s, drives to the dump to see the bears, epic pictionary games and (after only a slight incident of bloodshed) Bill’s official retirement from the card game of Nerts.

Bill met Michele in 2002 and she (along with her two children, Lisa and Robert) quickly became a part of the family. Bill and Michele were married in 2010 and she has been beautifully putting up with his antics and particulars ever since. They have been by each other’s side through all the joys and challenges that life has brought and Bill would be the first person to say he could not have found a better partner in life than the one he had in Michele.

In 2005, he attended BBQ University with his brother in law, Fred, which began a new found love of grilling and launched him on a delicious journey of homemade rubs, his famous grilled corn, and pizzas made from scratch and cooked in his outdoor pizza oven. Bill loved playing tennis and in 2009 he played in the USTA National Championships in California and again in 2014 in Arizona.

After he retired, Bill loved to spend more time at his house in Marco Island, Florida with Michele. They enjoyed going out on his boat, playing pickleball, and watching the sunset over the water. Back in Buffalo you could always catch a sporting event playing on his TV, whether it was football, hockey, tennis or golf. He had an ongoing war with the squirrels and deer over the bird feeders and in the evenings he and Michele would often relax in the backyard by the fire with a glass of wine and enjoy watching the turkeys line up at the same time each evening to get in their nightly perch up in the trees.

Bill had many convictions. He believed in always keeping your gas tank filled, closing the shower curtain so it could dry properly, applying (and reapplying) sunscreen, texting his kids when to change the clocks for daylight savings, cooking popcorn over a fire and felt strongly that every grandchild should have their own wand of bubbles at his house. But above everything else was the value Bill placed on friendship and family. He maintained many strong relationships with people throughout his life, from work relationships that continued even after the job ended to the core group of friends from high school that he remained close to for his entire life. Bill loved his family and prioritized hosting family dinners to bring everyone together even in the midst of busy schedules. He loved spending time with his 14 grandkids and could even be found holding the newest of arrivals (at least until they started hiccupping, of course).

Through all of life’s ups and downs Bill held onto his faith. He learned to trust in One greater than himself and encouraged others to do the same. He would often state: “I’m not in charge,” as a way of reminding himself, and those around him, to continue to trust the process and hold onto the hope we have in God. With his original cancer diagnosis in 2020, and again with its return last year, Bill faced his health challenges head on and fought with everything he had to be able to live the life he wanted to, for as long as he was able. He did not let the disease he was battling dictate what he was able to do. In his final years, he modeled to each of us some of the most important lessons he had taught his whole life: always do your best and never, ever give up.

Michele and Bill’s daughters want to give their heartfelt love and gratitude to everyone who has been a support to Bill and the family over the years and especially during his most recent challenges. Please continue to share how Bill has impacted your life and the good that you are carrying forward with you as a result of your relationship with him. As always, Carey on.