BRISTOL — William Joseph Morrissey — Billy, 66, of Bristol passed away on July 21, 2019 at the McClure Miller Respite House in Colchester. Bill was recently diagnosed with cancer and sadly was not able to be treated. He died on his own page, surrounded with much love and support from family. We will miss him dearly.
Bill was born in Kenosha, Wis., on Dec. 6, 1952. He was the son of Mary Caroline Morrissey and James Arthur Morrissey. He was the 9th of 14 children and the uncle to 29 nieces and nephews. He was a loving son, brother, uncle, Godfather and friend. He was raised in Wisconsin, Ohio and New Jersey. After getting out of the service, Bill settled in Vermont where most of his family had already moved.
Bill was a Vietnam Era Veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. While in the Navy Bill was stationed in Greece and was able to travel to many other countries during his service. Bill was an awesome craftsman and builder and always a hard worker. For his size and build he was strong as an ox. His many projects include those from small to massive post and beam barn structures. He had a great big, beautiful collection of tools both old and new. He loved to find old tools and bring them back to life. He had many friends that he made from construction sites all over the area.
He was always willing to help his family and friends with any job that needed to be done. This included building, painting, moving and any heavy lifting. He was instrumental in the rebuilding of his family home after a devastating fire occurred in February of 2000. Bill was a very generous man and often bought birthday presents for the kids. He brought many of them to see the Lion King movie and treated them to the Flynn for the Nutcracker. Bill loved reading, the outdoors, the mountains, Nascar racing, collecting trinkets and learning the stories behind them, swimming, hunting and just taking long walks. 
Bill is survived by his siblings and their spouses including; Judy, Jim and Linda, Mike and Beth, Tom and Debbie, John and Marge, Dick, MaryKay and Peter, Ron, Carol, Shelly, Beth, Maureen and Denny, and Joanni and Gary. He is also survived by nephews and nieces Michael, Amy, Christine, Gina, Karen, Wendi, John Jr., Kate, Harry, David, Austin, Kendra, Jesse, Shannan, Jaimee, Jason, Kyle, Chris, Audrey, Sharon, Logan and Melanie; great nieces and nephews Laney, Jasper, Jack, Oliver, Avery, Fineas and Maggie; his Aunt Joanne, Sr. Michele, Aunt Annamari and several cousins.
Bill was predeceased by his parents Mary Caroline and James Arthur Morrissey. 
There will be graveside service held at Mount St. Joseph Cemetery, 7026 Plank Rd, Bristol, VT on Aug. 25, at 11 a.m. There will be a celebration of life service and luncheon immediately following at the American Legion in Bristol.
The family also invites you to share your memories and condolences by visiting awrichfunerahomes.com.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Bill’s name to either the McClure Miller Respite House, 1110 Prim Rd., Colchester, VT 05446, or to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in c/o The Three Day Stampede, 711 Dan Sargent Rd., Starksboro, VT 05487.◊