William Francis "Bill" Nugent Jr.

With sadness, we share the passing of William "Bill" Nugent. He was born on December 17th, 1946 and died on August 23rd, 2025. He was 78 years old. His death was the result of congestive heart failure.

He is survived by his wife, Sara J. Solnick, and their three daughters (Zoe D. Nugent of Quincy, Massachusetts, Frances J. Solnick of London, England, and Julia L. Nugent of Portland, Oregon), along with other family and friends.

He was the oldest child of William F. Nugent and Catherine DeCourt. He had three younger sisters. As a child, he lived in Baltimore and Sandycove, Ireland near Dublin. He and Sara visited Ireland in the summer of 1996 with Zoe and Franny, then 20 months old. He was very pleased to find the house his family had lived in, his school, and the church they attended, all unchanged.

The photo in the thumbnail and under the obituary are from that trip.

He was educated at Catholic schools and served as an altar boy. He matriculated from Loyola College (now Loyola University) in Maryland with a degree in English in the late 60s.

He eventually moved to Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, and finally, South Burlington, VT. He wore many hats in his lifetime. He taught English literature, worked in IT during Y2K, was briefly a professional actor and played the leading role in Playboy of the Western World, worked in construction and as a gravedigger, and ultimately was a shop assistant for Vincent J. Fernandez's Oriental Rugs in Shelburne VT, before he retired.

Those who knew Bill knew that he was a lifelong learner, lover of art and music, a kind and devoted father, and he never denied himself dessert. He was fond of Keats, Buddhism, Plato, Gurdjieff, sudoku, philosophy lectures via YouTube, jazz music, and Hello Kitty. He had an analytical mind with a penchant for emotional appeal. He admired the aesthetics of Oriental art. He loved little things and had zero tolerance for cruelty. He will be deeply missed.

The family will hold a memorial gathering at Stephen C. Gregory and Son Cremation Service (472 Meadowland Drive, South Burlington) from 4:00 to 6:00 on Saturday, September 6.

If you would like to honor his memory, please consider a contribution to:

COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter), a local organization, https://cotsonline.org

Or Habitat for Humanity, https://www.habitat.org