William Gaynor Winget

William G. (“Bill”) Winget, an extraordinary lawyer, son, brother and uncle passed unexpectedly on June 7, 2026, at the age of 68. Bill was born on February 17, 1958, in Newark, New Jersey, to Gracia and Nelson Winget. As the eldest of four children, Bill naturally stepped into the role of oldest child and ultimately the beloved patriarch of the Winget siblings. His early childhood was spent in Springfield, New Jersey, before the family settled in their longtime home in Riverside, Connecticut.

Bill’s formative years in Riverside reflected an active family upbringing. Alongside his siblings Joe, Susan, and Chris, he embraced every aspect of childhood with enthusiasm and curiosity. His summers were spent swimming at Tod’s Point Beach, sailing at the Riverside Yacht Club, while winters were at hockey rinks and on ski slopes. As a summer job, Bill was a caddy at Innis Arden Golf Club. These experiences helped shape Bill’s lifelong appreciation for friendship, competition and the outdoors.

Bill attended Greenwich Public Schools and graduated from Greenwich High School in the historic bicentennial year of 1976. Even at a young age, he displayed a sharp intellect and wit, but was much more shy with conversation than he would become later in his life.

Bill began his college education at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. After 18 months, he transferred to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in a move that better reflected his growing confidence and charm. Bill often joked that he had “talked” his way into Georgetown after meeting Father Royden Davis, the university’s dean of students. Bill also had a lasting friendship with Father Timothy Healy who was President of Georgetown University and subsequent President of The New York Public Library system.

Georgetown University profoundly shaped Bill’s intellectual and personal life. It was there he fully cultivated his passions for analytical thinking, writing, and spirited debate. Washington, D.C. became a place where Bill truly “found his people” — individuals who shared his intellectual curiosity, ambition, and love of conversation. Bill graduated with a B.S. in English in 1981 and his M.A. in History in 1982. He loved attending basketball games at McDonough Gymnasium during the Patrick Ewing years. Bill remained a devoted and loyal supporter of Georgetown throughout his life and spoke often of the impact the university had on him.

Following Georgetown, Bill pursued a degree in law at St. John’s University School of Law in New York City. During his years there, he developed friendships with classmates who would later become trusted colleagues and business partners, including Luigi (“Lou”) Spadafora.

After beginning his legal career at a large law firm, Bill and Lou decided to establish their own practice and in 1993 co-founded Winget, Spadafora & Schwartzberg, LLP, helping build the firm over the next three decades into a highly respected multi-state practice.

Bill’s legal career was distinguished by his keen intellect, relentless work ethic, and meticulous attention to detail. He specialized primarily in insurance coverage matters, professional liability defense, commercial business litigation, and fidelity and surety bond matters. Colleagues and clients alike respected Bill not only for his legal expertise, but also for his integrity, thoughtful judgment, and professionalism. He was a trusted advisor, a skilled litigator, and a mentor to many younger attorneys throughout his long career.

Though Bill achieved tremendous professional success, one of his most cherished roles was that of uncle. He took enormous pride in his nieces and nephews and formed bonds with each of them. His generosity, encouragement and support left a lasting impact on generations of the family. Family gatherings were louder, higher energy and brighter with Bill present.

Those who knew Bill understood his devoted care to his parents, Gracia and Nelson. He would visit them on many weekends over the years and enjoyed attending St. Agnes Church with Nelson.

During Covid, Bill moved himself and his work into the family home in support of his parents who were well into their 90’s. He enjoyed talking about sports and politics with Nelson and he surely was entertainment for the caregivers! After Nelson passed, Bill lovingly took care of Gracia, who suffered from advanced Alzheimer's disease, making sure she got outside most days, pushing her down the street in her wheel chair and befriending neighbors along the way.

Bill had a great love of traveling, skiing, hiking and biking and kept to a yearly calendar of group trips. In addition to a yearly junket to Mount Desert Island, he celebrated his birthday every year with an annual ski trip with a coterie of worldwide friends in St. Anton’s, Austria. Bill loved to hike in South Tyrol, Cotswolds, Ireland and Spain, collecting new friends on every trip, who would then visit his New York City home. Bill belonged to the Mashomack Club, a hunting club, forgoing the hunting and enjoying the place, location and the people. Bill frequently biked to work and around Central Park, and enjoyed riding through back country Greenwich.

Bill will be profoundly missed by his extended family, colleagues, neighbors and friends. He is survived by his siblings, Joseph (Betty), Susan, and Chris (Wendy Dye), nieces Caitlin (Paul McAlpine), Meghan (Andrew Philips), Sarah (Wes McEntee), Emily (Jeremiah Vannest), Ainsleigh, Marcella, and nephews Michael (Maddie Golison), Russell and Anthony Feith. Bill is also survived by his great nieces Emma, Lily and Clara McAlpine and great nephew Elliot Philips.

A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 10:00am at St. Catherine of Siena church in Riverside, Connecticut followed by a reception at Riverside Yacht Club. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Bill’s name to the Greenwich Emergency Management Services (GEMS) https://www.greenwichems.org/campaigns/gems-donate-now/.