IN MEMORIAM: Bill Stanley, 83;
‘Artist’ Of An Active, Varied Life
ONEONTA – A funeral mass is Friday, Sept. 4, for William D. Stanley, 83, formerly a barber in downtown Oneonta and owner of the East End Tavern, who passed away Aug. 19, 2015, at Samuel S. Stratton VA Medical Center, Albany, with his family by his side.
Bill was born Nov. 6, 1931, in Oneonta, the son of Joseph and Helen (Dawes) Stanley. He married Ruth Graves on Aug. 16, 1970, in West Oneonta.
In 1950-53, Bill served in the Air Force during the Korean War as an MP, stationed in Iceland.
In addition to cutting hair in shops on Center and Main streets for 17 years, he cut hair in the evenings in Schenevus and Davenport. He also operated the East End Tavern for eight years.
He was an iron worker, working for several companies all over the state, and ran a gravel bank on Hemlock Road for Jim Hurtubise.
Bill was a hard worker even when he wasn’t at work, helping his sons building or fixing up their homes. He also helped his friends with their projects. He was always helpful to everyone; even to strangers.
A lifelong Oneonta resident, Bill was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church since birth. He was a founding member of The Gifford Hill Ponderosa Rod & Gun Club in existence for 50 years.
He had a traveling basketball league with players that included former SUNY soccer coach Garth Stam and Nick Lambros, the longtime Hartwick College basketball coach. Bill played in the local softball and bowling leagues, and was president of the Oneonta pool league and captain of his team for many years.
His love of fishing took him to Cayuga, Delaware and Oswego counties, and to Canada. He and his sons built a camp in Sandy Creek, where they fished annually for salmon and steelhead.
He was a deer hunter, a trapper, a turkey hunter, a rabbit hunter, a raccoon hunter and also brought home his share of geese. He was a teacher and mentor to whomever he came in contact with.
Bill and wife Ruth travelled around the U.S. three times. He was a 30-year participant in the Stanley family reunion, which he helped organized with his sisters and brothers and brought joy to all who attended.
For the past ten years, he enjoyed driving his Cub Cadet to the pond to feed the fish for all to see, especially the grandkids and great-grandkids, who caught frogs, tad poles, salamanders and minnows there.
One of his children called him an “Artist of Life.”
In addition to his wife Ruth; Bill is survived by sons and their wives, Jack and Joan, David and Susan, Joseph and Amy, William and Renee, Robert, Donald and Ananda, Stephen and Melissa; daughters and their husbands, Marcia and Gary Borden, Linda and Bud Wells, Katie and Gary Luskevich, Jennifer and Tim Touhey, Anie, June and Pete Allen; brother Jim Stanley; his sisters, Mary Jane Kroder and her husband Bob, and Emmy Stanley; also 24 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
He was predeceased by his parents; a grandson, Michael and a granddaughter, Jacqueline.
Friday’s funeral mass will be at 10:15 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 39 Walnut St., Oneonta, with the Rev. David Wm. Mickiewicz, as celebrant. Military honors will be at the conclusion of mass.
Immediately following mass, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., there will be a visitation at the Lewis, Hurley & Pietrobono Funeral Home, 51 Dietz St.
There will be no interment ceremony.
Memorial contributions may be made to Local Food Bank and Pantry, care of St. Mary’s Church, 39 Walnut St., Oneonta, NY 13820; Meals on Wheels, Office for the Aging, Meadows Office Complex-Suite 5, 140 Co Hwy 33W, Cooperstown, NY 13326; Hospice and Palliative Care Program, Albany VA Stratton Medical Center, 113 Holland Ave., Albany, NY 12208.