William Macinnis

William T. (Bill) MacInnis was born November 10, 1928 in Newfoundland to Mary (Walsh) and Thomas Janes. He passed away peacefully on January 15, 2018, in Sun City Center, Florida, with family at his side. He was raised by his mother and step father Arthur MacInnis, and moved with them to Bristol, Connecticut, where he attended local schools and met the love of his life, Betty Marie Gauvin.
Bill served in the Army in Alaska from 1946 to 1948, married Betty in 1949, and graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1952 with a degree in Accounting.
He then worked for General Electric for about a decade, moving to Ohio, Rhode Island, and back to Connecticut, where he and his family settled in Stamford in 1966. He changed to Lehman Brothers, commuting by train to Manhattan every day, becoming a vice president, and retiring in the late 1980s. He was known for being one of the first to see the commercial potential in the Japanese market for bond sales, and was successful in expanding Lehman Brothers’ commercial business to that country.
Betty and Bill enjoyed playing contract bridge, following the Red Sox, and travelling worldwide after the children had grown. They frequently travelled to Las Vegas and, after retirement, Bill would spend winters in Florida, keeping his mathematical mind sharp at Gulfstream Park race track. Bill was active in the community as a lector at St. Maurice’s Church, council member for the City of Stamford, and as a Justice of the Peace, performing weddings in his Glenbrook back yard. He also dabbled in acting, performing in local Stamford theater, and as the lead in a Miller TV commercial shot off Key West. After retiring from Lehman Brothers, he kept busy as a limo driver and as a financial advisor.
Bill was predeceased by his parents, sister Maureen (Reale), sister Jane (Duffy, then Bernklau) and his beloved wife, Betty, with whom he shared over 60 years of marriage. He is survived by his five children, Randall William MacInnis (Rita Hallman), Bruce MacInnis (Victoria Zolkiewicz), Paulette de la Veaux (Stephan), Susan Jane Stamm, and Betsy MacInnis Lundeen (David). He is also survived by his grandchildren, Thomas de la Veaux, Dianne de la Veaux (Michael Zink), and Eric MacInnis Lundeen, and several nieces and nephews.
A funeral procession will be leaving the Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Avenue, Stamford on Monday, January 22, 2018 at 10:30 AM for a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 11:00 AM at St. Maurice’s RC Church, 358 Glenbrook Road, Stamford. Interment will follow at St. John’s RC Cemetery, Darien. Family and friends may call at the funeral home on Sunday, January 21, 2018 from 2:00-6:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to animal rescue or literacy organization of your choice, as animal welfare and education were always dear to both Betty and Bill.
To leave online condolences, visit www.cognetta.com