William H. O'Neill

William (Bill) O’Neill, 63, of Bremerton WA passed away on August 7, 2015 at Harrison Medical Center after a courageous, relatively brief battle with an aggressive form of blood cancer.

His Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 AM on August 28, 2015 at Holy Trinity Church. All who plan on attending are encouraged to wear either white or very light colored clothing at the request of his wife and family.

Bill was raised in Chicago and moved to WA State with his parents, Maurice and Mary Fran O’Neill in 1970, the same year he graduated from high school. He attended Olympic College as a regular student and later completed his sheet metal apprenticeship program there as well. After working several years for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard he decided to follow a different path that eventually lead to his time at The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Seattle where he worked for close to 25 years and retired in 2012.

Bill was married to the love of his life, Norie O’Neill (Del Los Santos) and was a loving and devoted father to Deborah, 23 and Dorothy, 22 of Bremerton. Other survivors include a brother and sister, Paul O’Neill (Kathie) and Peggy Plastina (Rick), both of Illinois, and a sister, Carol Chollar (Bruce) of Bremerton, WA. He will also be missed by his extended family including his aunt Alice Zilly (Fred) and uncle Pat Breen (Dagmar) many nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters-in-law, cousins, as well as many great friends.

A man of faith who loved God and others deeply, Bill enjoyed many activities but his favorite pastime was playing music and singing with friends and family. Until his closest friend Gary Lackey passed away in 2006, the two of them spent much of their spare time doing just that. In more recent years he was a member of the “Perry Ave Spare Change Band” which sprang from a friendship he had formed with fellow ferry commuting motorcycle friends, Tom Curley and Mike Stratman.

Bill was an ardent supporter of his family’s artistic activities as well, faithfully and proudly attending concerts, plays, musicals and other performances. He always made it a point to show his sincere appreciation afterwards to not only his own family members but to everyone involved.

Bill was a generous, gentle and kind man with a big heart. He was always willing and eager to help others but seldom asked for help in return. He will be missed greatly by all who had the privilege of knowing him.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers a donation may be made in his honor to the American Cancer Society or American Red Cross.