William “Bill” Willard Graulty Jr., of West Stockbridge died Oct. 24 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston at the age of 68. He had been in targeted cancer treatment at MGH since March.
Bill grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, and spent summers on the coast at Hatchett’s Point. He attended Renbrook, Loomis and Dartmouth College. Bill discovered his love of broadcasting as a boy, giving updates to the family with a homemade radio kit. He worked at the Dartmouth College radio station and then WBEC radio in Pittsfield, WAMC Public Radio in Albany, and finally WBRK radio in Pittsfield, where he served as news director. After retiring from WBRK, Bill continued his popular daily commentaries and soon began a second career as a public relations executive at Alison Hull & Malnati in Pittsfield and then Mintz + Hoke in Avon, Connecticut.
Bill gave generously of himself to the community, serving as a West Stockbridge selectman, youth hockey coach, Little League baseball umpire, on the board of the local United Way and Chamber of Commerce, and on the vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Stockbridge. He loved to curl and was a beloved member of the Norfolk Curling Club. His favorite places were along the New England coast, which he vividly captured in his paintings and tirelessly explored, often aboard his Catalina 30 “SALYASA,” a mashup of his three children’s names.
Bill is survived by a large and loving family to whom he leaves a legacy of love, laughter and generosity. They include Vaunie, his wife of 46 years; children Sarah, Lyon and Sam; children-in-law Alice, Maddie and Will; granddaughter Josephine; step-granddaughter Islay; siblings Susan, Martha, Coley, Henry and Roger; and 14 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents William Willard Graulty Sr. and Marilyn Dickinson.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, Nov. 3, at 1 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 29 Main St., Stockbridge. Donations in Bill’s memory may be made to the Lee Food Pantry or to the Norfolk Curling Club Scholarship Fund through Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. To send remembrances to the family, go to http://www.finnertyandstevens.com.
