“I was recently talking with a friend from our 1978 hockey team, Paul Winch, about being a goalie,” recalled Bill. “You have to rely on your teammates because you're stuck in the net. You learn how to rely on other people. I can rely on my guys up front, and they can rely on me. And, in management, I need to be there for my people when they need me.”

 

Bill said he also realized the value of communication from the game of hockey.

 

“We're doing a lot of communicating on the ice,” explained Bill. “I’m telling our defense what's going on in front of me, since they cannot see who’s behind them. My job was to tell them, ‘you got four coming in’ and ‘you got one on your back.’ I'm yelling the whole time. And, in business, I’ve got the backs of my employees, just like a goalie has the backs of his defenseman.”

 

Bill put those hockey lessons to work in his 50-year career in the propane business.

 

“I went to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida for an aeronautical science degree and got my private pilot’s license," said Bill. “I was in my third trimester, but my dad got sick. When I was 21, he was gone. In time, my mother got a home down in Saint Thomas, and I decided that would be a good place to go for a little while. When I was there, I met the owner of Saint Thomas Gas and USVI Gas Transport, and he hired me to sell and service clients; but I also learned how to deliver gas.”

 

From Saint Thomas, Bill moved back to Connecticut and took a delivery driver and service tech position at American Propane, which was acquired by AmeriGas in 1986. With 60 locations in the Northeast at that time, the company eventually became the largest propane marketer in North America.

 

Over the next 24 years, Bill managed various locations and ran national programs for AmeriGas - even winning awards for his expertise. “I got a Chairman's Award for safety training and wrote all the bobtail delivery, service tech, and plant policies and procedures. Later, I became ‘the police’ for AmeriGas, and I would go into regional hubs and investigate any suspected shenanigans,” he maintained.

 

Eventually, Bill left AmeriGas to become the regional vice president for Hocon Gas out of Shelton, Conn. He stayed with that company for 12 years. Career longevity aside, Bill has also achieved longevity in his marriage to Sue, who works as a family advocate at the Thames Valley Council for Community Action’s Early Head Start and Head Start Program. 

 

“I don't know how she does it, but Sue and I will be married 40 years this September,” said Bill. 

 

Bill and Sue have two children together: Bill, who works as the manager of commercial engines and finance at Pratt & Whitney; and Jocelyne, who is the senior director of amateur hockey development for the New York Islanders in the NHL. Like his own father, Bill passed his love of hockey to his children.

 

“I grew up playing hockey at a young age,” recalled Bill. “I remember watching the full Miracle on Ice game on TV in 1980 and games in New Haven Arena with my father. He even took me to see the New York Rangers play the Detroit Red Wings with Gordie Howe! And as a parent, I’m happy to say that our kids love the game, too.”

 

Bill had a chance to put his goalie skills to work for Hamden Hall’s pioneering hockey teams in the late ‘70s.

  

“We had amazing teams back in the day,” reflected Bill. “Over three seasons of play, I think we were 80-6 at one point. We were close on the ice as players, and we’ve remained close friends for 50 years.”

 

Bill had a recent health challenge, but said his family, friends, and hockey teammates have been there for him during his recovery.

 

“I’m semi-retired, and we were ready to hop in our truck and travel,” said Bill. “But I had back surgery last fall. I’m on the mend, but the recovery process has been brutal. I’m hoping the antibiotics work, but it was serious, and I’ll probably be recovering through the end of this year. Then, I’ll hit the road to see new and revisit places I have been to before and during my career in this great country!"