William Dewkett Sr., 96

LEE, Mass. — William J. Dewkett Sr., 96, died Thursday afternoon, August 31, 2017, at his home, on Birch Street in Lee, surrounded by his family. 

He was born on December 23, 1920, the son of Arthur and Delia Lasher Dewkett, and was a 1938 graduate of Lee High School. After High School he went to welding school and worked in the Navy Ship Yards in Boston. 

Mr. Dewkett served in the U.S. Army during WW II as a Technician Fourth Grade, 113th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Co. in the Bismarck – Archipelago Campaign. After the service he worked as a welder retiring from the Kimberly Clark Corporation in Lee in the early 1970s.

Mr. Dewkett was a communicant of St. Mary’s Church in Lee. He enjoyed square dancing, gardening, traveling, wintering in Florida with his wife, watching his children grow up and play sports and especially his great grandchild, Silas.

On March 8, 1945, Mr. Dewkett married the former Jenny Gagliardi. She died on April 12, 2016.

He is survived by three sons, William Dewkett Jr. and his wife Gwen of Brookfield, Conn., David Dewkett and his wife Ellen of Port Orange, Fla., and Thomas Dewkett and his wife Katherine of Staatsburg, N.Y.; three grandchildren, Matt Dewkett and his wife Bonnie, Bryan Dewkett and Michelle Dewkett; and one great-grandchild, Silas. 

He is predeceased by a daughter, Jean Marie Dewkett, who died as a young child in 1958; a brother, Arthur Dewkett; and three sisters, Clara Andognini, Delia Siok and Leda Dewkett.

His family would like to thank Porch Light Home Care / VNA, especially, Nettie, Nora, Estervina, Annasah, Tanya and Joanne. 

Funeral notice: A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Lee. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Lee. 

Visiting hours will be on Monday, September 4, 2017, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Kelly Funeral Home in Lee. Friends wishing may make donations in his memory to the American Cancer Society or to Hospice Care in the Berkshires in c/o the Kelly Funeral Home, 3 Main Street, Lee, MA 01238.