William P Pickett

My Uncle Bill died this February.  For me he will always be Billy or Uncle Billy (my mother never called him Bill or William).  He was the youngest of the Pickett siblings.  I don't recall Bill's ordination but I do have photos of myself, the only child my mother took on the flight from California to New Jersey for that occasion.  I do remember Bill coming to officiate at my brother Tom R.'s funeral.  Later Bill decided to leave the priesthood.  Famous family stories - he refused to move back in with my Grandmother Pickett, who would have loved to have him do that.  Bill let be known he would be interested in getting married.  Eventually he met Dorothy.  After their first date, she went home and wrote an invitation list for the wedding.  I'm not sure what he thought, but I understand it took him too long from Dorothy's point of view to ask for a second date.  They married and Edward M Pickett was born.  I think Eddie's birth was the highlight of Uncle Billy's life.  From what I could observe, nothing matched his joy of married life and fatherhood.  I felt connected to Uncle Billy on a level of understanding of one teacher to another.  I always enjoyed talking with him on the phone about such related matters.  My mother was quite proud of Billy's ESL books.  I love his practical and humorous approach to learning a new language and culture.  The last I saw Uncle Billy, we were able to sit and look through family photos and letters.  I asked Uncle Billy for some family stories and one of my favorites was his story that as a child he would take the bus from Passaic, NJ to Binghamton, NY to visit his Aunt Christine, Aunt Ellen and Grandmother Shea (at least a 3 hour bus ride).  He would walk from their house to the local park to ride the carousel or go tobogganing in the winter.  He will be greatly missed.

 My most recent photo of Bill (and Dorothy) from 3 summers ago when Joe and I visited New Jersey and had dinner with them.

 My wedding, Uncle Billy is in the back between my sister and Dorothy.  Eddy is between me and Joe in the front.