WILLIAM B. PIÉ, SR. (Bill) of Berlin formerly of Wethersfield, passed away peacefully on August 30th just short of his 93rd birthday with his loving family by his side. Bill was born in Newark, Delaware, the seventh of the eight children of Paul F. Pié and Margaret Blandy Pié. He leaves his beloved wife of 66 years Anne (Mele), daughters Suzanne Edgaro of Berlin, CT, Michele Johnson (Kurt) of Renton, WA, granddaughter Elizabeth Edgaro of Hartford, CT, grandsons Ryan Johnson (Christine) Kent, WA, Colin Johnson (Shannon) Ladson, SC, Blandy Salerno, Seattle, WA, Coast Guard Lieutenant, William B. Pié, III, Galveston, TX, Elise Pié of Southington, sister Anne Barbazette of N. Ft. Meyers, FL, great-grandchildren Darren and Addison Johnson of Ladson, SC, Owen and Olivia Johnson of Kent, WA, Griffen Salerno and Lily Anne Blake of Everett, WA and many nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his son William B. Pié, Jr. and youngest daughter Jennifer Wilson. He was also predeceased by his brothers Paul, Charles and John, and sisters Catherine P. Connell, Marguerite P. Cox and Elizabeth D. Pié.
Bill attended the University of Delaware for two years interrupting his education to join the Navy where he served for two years as Boatswains Mate 2nd Class on the aircraft carrier the USS Badoeng Strait. With the ending of WWII, he was discharged to complete his education earning his Mechanical Engineering degree. He spent his entire career of thirty-six years with Pratt & Whitney being hired immediately upon his graduation from Delaware in 1950. He spent the first four years in the East Hartford facility in Field Engineering after which he and his young family were transferred to the Los Angeles office where he served as Assistant Chief for ten years.
Following those years, he and the family moved north where he was assigned as Chief of the Seattle office for the next ten years. During that time, he traveled extensively through Asia, Europe, Australia and South Africa. One of the high points of his career was being on the first delivery flight of the Boeing 747-SP to South African Airways. In 1968 Bill became Director of Marketing for new engines when he was transferred back to East Hartford. Bill retired in 1986 after a thirty-six-year career.
Bill was an avid low-handicap golfer from the age of six. He had no choice because his father and brothers were club champions, so he naturally followed suit. As a teenager, Bill was credited with keeping the Newark Country Club open during WWII years because so many of their employees were called to serve. Bill’s family home was directly across the road from the club so early mornings he could be found tending to the greens and running the pro-shop. Bill is also a past member of the Wethersfield Country Club.
In his retirement years, when Bill was not keeping up his impeccable lawn and yard, he could be found in his basement workshop creating professional pieces of furniture treasured by his family. He also was a master at the barbecue, one of his specialties being Shish-Kabob. Watching him threading the skewers with lamb and vegetables with precision and patience was seeing an artist at work. He was our rock, our Poppie, our Devil’s advocate, our go-to person if anything needed to be mended or replaced, the one to reassure us with his quiet, sensible and level-headed view of any situation. It has been a family joke, but we will lovingly carry on his tradition of making sure that cold foods are served on cold plates and hot foods on warm plates!
The family extends thanks to Trinity Hospice for their constant care and kindness to Bill when he needed it the most. And to all our friends who brought dinners, ran errands and made calls offering any help whatsoever, we will be eternally grateful.
In recognition of the challenges presented by the COVID virus, drive through calling hours will be held at the D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Drive, Wethersfield on Tuesday, September 8th from 4 – 6:00 p.m. Funeral Mass and Burial will be private. For online expressions of sympathy to the family, please www.desopofuneralchapel.com.
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