Bill Townsend

1960 - 2025

Bill Townsend

Post Mills, VT - William "Bill" Irving Townsend of Post Mills, Vermont passed away peacefully on October 14, 2025 at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative Care in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He was surrounded by many loving family members in the days prior to his passing, and his wife Christen remained by his side until the end, holding his hand until his final breath.

Born in Boston in 1960, Bill was the fifth of seven children of Robert and Barbara (McCabe) Townsend. Raised in Weston, Massachusetts, Bill's childhood was highlighted by gatherings during summers at the family farmhouse in Bridgewater, New Hampshire, and adventures with siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles who formed the heart of his extended clan.

Though a true New Englander at heart, Bill had an explorer's spirit. He lived for nearly two decades in Anaheim, California, soaking up sunshine and West Coast energy, and later spent ten years in England. But the hills of New Hampshire were always calling to him. In 2017, he answered that call, settling for the next five years in Haverhill.

Over a 45-year career in a variety of industries including newspapers, waste management, finance, and schools, Bill brought energy, creativity, and an unmatched work ethic to every role he took on. He especially enjoyed jobs where he interacted with young people. In New Hampshire, he worked at Pete's Rubbish, Woodsville High School, and Warren Village School, before joining the Dartmouth Hitchcock Emergency Department in Lebanon, where he served primarily in the Behavioral Health unit. Colleagues remember him for his gentle presence, ever-ready smile, and deep compassion for patients. Even in stressful moments, Bill had a calming way of making sure that both his patients and coworkers were well cared for.

Family meant everything to Bill. He was deeply connected to his five surviving siblings - Leslie Townsend (Polly Boissevain), Robert "Sandy" Townsend (Pat), Susan Townsend (Gary Gales), Peter Townsend, and Richard Townsend - who treasured his loyal friendship and the joy he brought to family gatherings. He was the kind of fun-loving uncle every kid dreams of - rallying his eleven nieces and nephews for hikes and canoeing adventures, manning the grill at cookouts, and dancing and singing at the campfires that lit up starry nights at the farm.

But the brightest lights in Bill's life were his twin daughters, Annabelle and Beatrice. They were his pride, his joy, and his greatest achievement. While they are currently in college in New York and Florida, respectively, they were by his bedside day and night in his final weeks. Bill's love for them was boundless and unceasing.

After two previous long-term marriages, Bill found love again later in life with Christen, whom he met in 2019. Their relationship was full of laughter, music, road trips, house projects, and a shared love of life's simple pleasures, like summer nights on the screened porch in Haverhill. They married in a surprise ceremony overlooking Newfound Lake in Bridgewater on July 4th 2023, surrounded by shocked family members and the landscape Bill loved most. In just a few short years, they built a joyful life together - traveling to Mexico, California, Washington D.C., and Montreal, along with many getaways all over New England, dancing at Dave Matthews Band concerts, cheering on the Red Sox at Fenway, and faithfully attending Dartmouth football games as season ticket holders. At home, Bill found contentment in tending to their antique house in Post Mills, maintaining the yard and mowing the lawn under the hot sun, cold beer in hand, completely in his element.

Bill was a people person, and struck up conversations with folks wherever he went. He was rarely the center of attention but left a lasting impression - his kindness, humor, and humility spoke louder than words ever could. He faced life's many challenges with quiet strength, a warm heart, and what seemed to be limitless optimism. It was only over the last eight months of his life, beset by a relentless string of setbacks to his physical health, that he began to lose some of his energy and positivity.

He is predeceased by his beloved parents and his oldest sister, Linda. He leaves behind a wide circle of family, friends, coworkers, and patients who are better for having known him.

Bill's life will be celebrated with a family gathering in summer 2026, when he will be laid to rest at the Old Home Cemetery on Bridgewater Hill alongside his parents and sister - amid the soil and the scenery that shaped his soul.

Gifts in Bill's memory may be made to Dartmouth Hitchcock to support training programs in the Emergency Department - a place where Bill gave so much of himself in his final years, and where his gentle legacy will live on. Gifts can be made online at:

dhmcalumdev.hitchcock.org/giving/Dartmouth-health-other

Please include the fund name "Emergency Department Education Fund" or Fund ID 2-22792 and specify that your gift is in memory of William Townsend at the bottom of the page.