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October 2, 2012
Services
Memorial visiting will be held on Friday, October 5, 2012 from 6-9 PM at the funeral home. A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne, at 9:30 AM.
UPDATE: Memorial visiting and a memorial Mass are schedule for October 5 and 6. Please see obituary for complete details.
UPDATE: Memorial visiting will be held on Friday, October 5, 2012 from 6-9 PM at the funeral home. A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne, at 9:30 AM.
William J. Wetzler, age 87 of Ocala, Florida, died on Thursday, August 2, 2012 at the Veterans Hospital in Lyons, NJ. He was fondly known as “Uncle Bill” to just about everyone.
Bill was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated high school there.
He began working at American District Telegraph (ADT) when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in northern Africa and Italy during WWII. He was a Field Lineman, running communications wires over the battlefield. On one occasion, Bill and three other men moved to a remote forward position and were relaying information on German positions back to the artillery. Bill’s group was hit with enemy fire and Bill was gravely wounded while the three other men with him were killed. He had no choice but to crawl two and a half miles back, with shrapnel in his leg, to where he could get some first aid. He earned two Purple Hearts during the War. He was treated at a Virginia V.A.
hospital as well as a Daytona Beach, Florida V.A. hospital where he was impressed with the beauty of the Silver Springs area. He then moved to the V.A. Hospital in Brooklyn to recover from his injuries. While in Brooklyn, he met a beautiful young nurse named Nina Giattini, and they fell in love. They enjoyed sixty years of loving marriage together before Nina passed in 2011.
Bill and Nina first lived in Queens, NY after getting married and later moved to Wayne in 1961. Bill continued to work for ADT in Clifton and he retired in 1987 after a career of nearly forty years. Bill had always been “Mr. train-man”, fascinated by locomotives and trains.
Their home was ½ a mile from railroad tracks and he knew the train schedule by heart. He would run down to the tracks just to watch the train go by. He collected Lionel trains throughout his life and he built a spectacular track setup in his home. High up by the ceiling, he had trains that went from room to room throughout his house in Ocala. A bridge that he designed and built carried the trains between the living room and dining room. Everyone who visited remarked on how extraordinary it was. Bill would get giddy, like a little kid, when his trains were running. He also got involved with the “Live Steamers”
which was a club of train enthusiasts that built small trains, just large enough to sit on, that you could ride around on small tracks. In fact, whenever Bill planned a family vacation, their hotel was usually near to a set of train tracks and, when he traveled through the Panama Canal, he didn’t take pictures of the locks – he took pictures of the locomotives that pulled the ship through the locks. He was a certified train junkie.
Together, Bill and Nina moved to Silver Spring Shores in Ocala, Florida where they had a retirement home. They fell in love with the lifestyle in Florida and became very active. All his years in Florida he was involved in the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and with many of their ongoing projects. Being a disabled vet himself, it was an important part of his life. Bill was a trustee and past president of the Lake Joy Association and he ran the local Bingo for a time.
Bill came from a very large and close family, having seven siblings. Between Christmas parties and family reunions if there was a family event, Bill and Nina were there with a smile, a good story, and a deck of cards. They thought nothing of loading up the car and traveling to be with family.
They traveled extensively during their retirement, much of it in their car. They simply loved to drive and going cross-country was fun to them. They had traveled cross country so many times that they covered just about every route you could have taken and some more than once. They went all over the United States and beyond. They had a long and lovely retirement together enjoying each other’s company for many, many years.
Bill is survived by his sons Herbert of Highland Lakes, NJ, James and his wife Rose of Vallejo, CA, his daughter Rosemarie MacPhee and her husband Craig of Pepperell, MA, and Andrew and his wife Debbie of Bloomingdale, NJ; six grandchildren; Verity, Kelly, Russell, Amelia, Rachel, and Alex, two sisters; Dorothy Stachowiak of Long Island, Joan Goodrich of Westtown, NY, and one brother; Ned Wetzler and his wife Betty of Little Egg Harbor, NJ, and his dear sister-in-law; Rosalie Wetzler of Toms River, NJ.
Memorial donations in Bill’s honor would be greatly appreciated. Please consider the Alzheimer's Association, Greater New Jersey Chapter, 400 Morris Avenue, Suite 251, Denville, NJ 07834.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Memorial visiting will be held on Friday, October 5, 2012 from 6-9 PM at the funeral home. A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne, at 9:30 AM.
October 2, 2012
Services
Memorial visiting will be held on Friday, October 5, 2012 from 6-9 PM at the funeral home. A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne, at 9:30 AM.
UPDATE: Memorial visiting and a memorial Mass are schedule for October 5 and 6. Please see obituary for complete details.
UPDATE: Memorial visiting will be held on Friday, October 5, 2012 from 6-9 PM at the funeral home. A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne, at 9:30 AM.
William J. Wetzler, age 87 of Ocala, Florida, died on Thursday, August 2, 2012 at the Veterans Hospital in Lyons, NJ. He was fondly known as “Uncle Bill” to just about everyone.
Bill was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated high school there.
He began working at American District Telegraph (ADT) when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in northern Africa and Italy during WWII. He was a Field Lineman, running communications wires over the battlefield. On one occasion, Bill and three other men moved to a remote forward position and were relaying information on German positions back to the artillery. Bill’s group was hit with enemy fire and Bill was gravely wounded while the three other men with him were killed. He had no choice but to crawl two and a half miles back, with shrapnel in his leg, to where he could get some first aid. He earned two Purple Hearts during the War. He was treated at a Virginia V.A.
hospital as well as a Daytona Beach, Florida V.A. hospital where he was impressed with the beauty of the Silver Springs area. He then moved to the V.A. Hospital in Brooklyn to recover from his injuries. While in Brooklyn, he met a beautiful young nurse named Nina Giattini, and they fell in love. They enjoyed sixty years of loving marriage together before Nina passed in 2011.
Bill and Nina first lived in Queens, NY after getting married and later moved to Wayne in 1961. Bill continued to work for ADT in Clifton and he retired in 1987 after a career of nearly forty years. Bill had always been “Mr. train-man”, fascinated by locomotives and trains.
Their home was ½ a mile from railroad tracks and he knew the train schedule by heart. He would run down to the tracks just to watch the train go by. He collected Lionel trains throughout his life and he built a spectacular track setup in his home. High up by the ceiling, he had trains that went from room to room throughout his house in Ocala. A bridge that he designed and built carried the trains between the living room and dining room. Everyone who visited remarked on how extraordinary it was. Bill would get giddy, like a little kid, when his trains were running. He also got involved with the “Live Steamers”
which was a club of train enthusiasts that built small trains, just large enough to sit on, that you could ride around on small tracks. In fact, whenever Bill planned a family vacation, their hotel was usually near to a set of train tracks and, when he traveled through the Panama Canal, he didn’t take pictures of the locks – he took pictures of the locomotives that pulled the ship through the locks. He was a certified train junkie.
Together, Bill and Nina moved to Silver Spring Shores in Ocala, Florida where they had a retirement home. They fell in love with the lifestyle in Florida and became very active. All his years in Florida he was involved in the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and with many of their ongoing projects. Being a disabled vet himself, it was an important part of his life. Bill was a trustee and past president of the Lake Joy Association and he ran the local Bingo for a time.
Bill came from a very large and close family, having seven siblings. Between Christmas parties and family reunions if there was a family event, Bill and Nina were there with a smile, a good story, and a deck of cards. They thought nothing of loading up the car and traveling to be with family.
They traveled extensively during their retirement, much of it in their car. They simply loved to drive and going cross-country was fun to them. They had traveled cross country so many times that they covered just about every route you could have taken and some more than once. They went all over the United States and beyond. They had a long and lovely retirement together enjoying each other’s company for many, many years.
Bill is survived by his sons Herbert of Highland Lakes, NJ, James and his wife Rose of Vallejo, CA, his daughter Rosemarie MacPhee and her husband Craig of Pepperell, MA, and Andrew and his wife Debbie of Bloomingdale, NJ; six grandchildren; Verity, Kelly, Russell, Amelia, Rachel, and Alex, two sisters; Dorothy Stachowiak of Long Island, Joan Goodrich of Westtown, NY, and one brother; Ned Wetzler and his wife Betty of Little Egg Harbor, NJ, and his dear sister-in-law; Rosalie Wetzler of Toms River, NJ.
Memorial donations in Bill’s honor would be greatly appreciated. Please consider the Alzheimer's Association, Greater New Jersey Chapter, 400 Morris Avenue, Suite 251, Denville, NJ 07834.
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