William A. Melhado

DORSET - William Anderson Melhado passed away on December 30, 2015, after a long and loving life and having fought a determined battle against heart disease for many years.
Bill was born in Schenectady, N.Y., September 12, 1929, the son of Edmund and Martha Hawley Melhado. He graduated from the Albany Academy in 1947, and Yale University with a degree in Engineering in 1951. He married Suzanne Talcott in 1952. Starting at Allegheny Ludlum Steel Company in Albany, he moved with them to Ohio and then to a change in career when he moved into a successful role in banking with Bankers Trust Company in 1960. Moving to Vermont in 1982, he was a franchisee for General Business Services for the following 30 years.
Treasurer for Zion Episcopal Church, the Dorset Library and the Dorset Historical Society, Board member of Habitat and the Vermont Community Loan Fund, and member of the Investment Committee of the Dorset Church were all volunteer posts he undertook and loved.
Bill was an avid fly fisherman, lover of the Adirondacks, possessor of a vicious slice on the golf course (but also two holes in one), a deft canoe paddler, an accomplished pool player and a fixer upper of just about everything in a new and different way; he could always make something work better with his ingenuity.
His workshop was always in perfect order, and watch your step if you went in and misplaced anything. But he could always get a smile if not an outright laugh out of just about everyone.
He was very musical, loved to sing and play the piano, and was part of the Dorset Church choir for many years.
He was predeceased by his wife Suzanne in 1991.
He leaves behind his beloved wife of 23 years, Barbara Melhado of Dorset; his sister Sarah White; his children, Ted Melhado and wife, Loretta; Suzanne Bolduc and husband, Philip; and Helen Melhado Hart; his stepchildren Abigail Abbott and husband, Keith, and Bob Trask; his grandchildren Edmund and wife, Alexa Hart; and great-grandchild, Alistair Anderson Hart, Katherine Melhado Foote and husband, Chris, Caroline and William Melhado, and Matthew Bolduc; his step-grandchildren Adelaide and Ethan Abbott; and his fifth much-loved Springer spaniel, Lily.
A Memorial Service will be held January 16th at the United Church of Dorset and East Rupert at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the United Church of Dorset & East Rupert or the Manchester Rescue Squad, c/o Brewster-Shea Funeral Services, P.O. Box 885, Manchester, VT 05255.
Services have been entrusted to the care of Brewster-Shea Funeral Services, Manchester, VT. To send the family personal email condolences, please visit www.sheafuneralhomes.com.