Bill was born in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania in 1941 to Lilian and William Hamilton. He was the oldest of six children and is survived by two brothers, John and Peter, and his sister, Patricia. He graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School and won a gold medal in the 1 Meter Diving Event in the Junior Olympics in 1958. Bill continued to dive at The University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of Sigma Chi and earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in European history. Bill served as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Navy from 1964 – 1966, after which he attended Harvard Business School. Bill spent his entire career as a partner and investment analyst at State Street Research and Management Company.
In June of 1966, Bill married Mary Kathleen Sanford. In 1969 they moved to Concord, where they raised three children, Nancy-Geer, Will, and Alexis.Bill was a lover of reading and discussing history, but above all else, he was an avid traveler and prolific stamp collector. He loved talking with and learning from people from different cultures, sharing stories of the off the beaten path places he explored. He prided himself in taking his family along on his adventures to experience things like a camel trade at the Pushkar Fair, a cutting ceremony on the Sepik River of New Guinea, and hunting caiman deep in the jungles of the Amazon. Travel to Bill was education and he managed, over the course of his lifetime, to visit a myriad of corners of every continent, including both poles.
Bill is survived by his wife, children, and five grandchildren, Augusta, JJ, Fisher, Faye and Sloan, all of whom he loved very much.
Bill was a very private man; it was his wish to be cremated and to have a small ceremony of life quietly, with his family.
In lieu of flowers, if you would like to donate in his honor, the family requests that donations be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284 (www.dana-farber.org).
Arrangements are under the care of Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. To share a memory or to offer a condolence in Bill’s online guestbook, please visit www.DeeFuneralHome.com.
