William Thomas Connolly

William T. Connolly, 87, of Punta Gorda, formerly of Bethel, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on October 25th after a brief illness. A native of Connecticut, Bill was born and raised in Norwalk, attending Norwalk High School before enlisting in the Navy. In 1961 he moved to Bethel, Connecticut, raising his family there until he retired to Punta Gorda in 2021.

Bill was a building official for more than 35 years serving the towns of Bethel, Newtown, and Wilton. After retiring he enjoyed filling in whenever needed. Bill was a member of District 8 and the Eastern States Federation of Building Officials where he traveled around the country to annual conferences making many friends along the way. He was also a member of the Connecticut Building Officials Association having served a term as president in 2004. A communicant of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Bethel, Bill was an usher at Sunday mass for many years. Once he moved to Florida Bill became involved in his community there and thoroughly enjoyed his time spent with the veterans and volunteering at the military museum.

Bill’s grandchildren were his pride and joy and he loved attending all of their school events and celebrating their achievements. He loved the beach and live music, recently having gone on a cruise with the Goldstones. Many good times were had throughout the years at his home on Cape Cod.

Bill, affectionately known to many as Wild Bill, would want to be remembered as someone who loved God, family, and his country. Although his time at Blue Heron Pines was short, he made many good friends and enjoyed events at the clubhouse, visiting neighbors on his golf cart, and Saturdays spent playing bean bag baseball. It was at one of these games that Debbie caught his eye and soon they became friends spending time together watching movies and making dinner. Bill was a believer that life is better with someone to love by your side and he wasted no time asking Debbie to marry him when they were on vacation in the Outer Banks. In their brief time together Debbie was a great wife, especially when Bill started to decline, taking him to all of his doctor and physical therapy appointments and making sure he had all of his favorite foods. He was thankful for her every day.

In addition to his wife Debbie, Bill is survived by his children William, Melissa (Michael), John, Sue (William), and Megan (Paul). He also leaves behind his beloved grandchildren Alex, Christopher, Katherine (Brett), Haley, Sarah (Justin); Tyler, Shane, Thomas, Jaclyn (Tyrone), Kasey, Sophia (Bobby), Angelica, and Devin and his great grandson Lincoln. Also surviving are his sister in law Mary Ellen and her husband Peter and many nieces and nephews. Bill was predeceased by his first wife and the mother of his children, Carmeline, and by his granddaughter Chloe, along with his parents, in laws, and sister in law Patricia and her husband Tony.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday at 2:30 at the Blue Heron Pines Golf Club Pub. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the charity of your choice.