WILLIAM WALTER WRIGHT

1926 - 2021

WRIGHT, WILLIAM WALTER "Bill" 1926-2021 Peacefully at home in Oakville, Ontario, in his 95th year, on May 3, 2021 surrounded by family. Beloved partner of Hortense Watkis for over 40 years. Father of Anne Wright-Howard (Mark Starowicz), Kathleen (Dennis Freeman), Hillary (Tita Trevisan), and Elizabeth (Neil Munson); grandfather of Caitlin Starowicz, Madeleine Starowicz (Ryan Boyd), Matthew Freeman (Lia Whyte-Freeman), Allison Freeman (Mike Bowman), Julia Freeman (Essi Yeganegi), Nick Trevisan, and Lara Munson; and great-grandfather of Jackson, Marcus, Arabella, Graydon, Celeste, Xavier and Noelle. Predeceased by his ex-wife, Sheila Shiels, and sister, Betty Fugler, and much loved uncle to nieces Susan Thomson and Sally Ricketts. The son of Claude Wright and Gladys Hackett, Bill was born in Dulwich, London. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Claude, a banker at Lloyds of London, was transferred with his family to Salisbury in the south of England where Bill attended Bishop Wordsworth School. Upon graduation he enlisted in the Royal Navy serving on the destroyer, H.M.S. Onslaught and saw action in the North Sea and the Arctic. The navy imbued in him a sense of adventure which manifested itself in 1956 when he, his wife, and four young children immigrated to Toronto knowing no-one. He was just 30 years old. Here he founded his own company, Vanity Hosiery, which, thanks to his personal charm and indefatigable energy, expanded to service drug stores all over the GTA and southern Ontario. He and Hortense travelled abroad well into his 80s, touring the USA, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, the UK, and even Ghana. An avid cyclist, he cycled 60 kms a week until a year before his death. He loved jazz, history and Coronation Street, was a noted authority on WW2, and keenly followed international tennis and soccer championships, often getting up at 4am to watch a match. He was known for his grace, gentleness, unfailing optimism and sense of humour. A self-described Humanist, he said his main goals were "kindness, honesty, tolerance, forgiveness and not hurting other peoples' feelings." He lived by that creed. The family salutes the PSWs, RNs supplied by LHIN and Dr. Lynne Benjamin who took such marvellous care of him.