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William Joseph Killion, 92, died on June 16 at Connecticut Hospice in Branford. He was a longtime resident of the town and had been ill for several months.

He is survived by sons Mark and his wife Toni of Branford and Paul and his wife Tina of Bristol, Rhode Island, and daughter Sarah and her husband Jeff of Amherst, Massachusetts. He leaves his sister Mary Miller of Essex and her son Jonathan, who aided Bill and his mother during the illness. He also leaves grandchildren Liam, Caitlin, Isabella, Hannah, Eliza, and Gabriel and great-grandchildren August, Siena, and Matilda. His wife of 66 years, Joan, died in 2019.

Bill was born in New Haven on Dec. 9, 1929, grew up in West Haven, and graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1951. After college, he served in the 445th Military Government Company of the Army Reserve. In 1952, he co-founded, with his brother Thomas, Thermal Acoustics. The interior and specialty contracting firm operated as a family business until Mark’s retirement in 2018. When working in the construction industry, Bill served on the Board of Directors of the Associated General Contractors of Connecticut. Joan and Bill enjoyed staying at their cottage on Plum Island, Massachusetts, UConn basketball, and following the activities of their grandchildren. In retirement, they traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe, visiting family and friends who live around the world.

Bill’s strongest avocation was found with the maritime world. With Tom, there was a brief foray in commercial tuna fishing. He sailed and cruised along the East Coast and throughout the North Atlantic. His travels were from Canada to the rocky coast of Maine and all of New England. He sailed Long Island Sound and to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island, and Nantucket. He eagerly awaited the annual publication of Eldridge Tide and Pilot to plan voyages! Most of the trips were on the 31-foot sloop he built in his side yard. During a later trip, he cruised in the West Indies.

Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 24, at W.S. Clancy Funeral Home, 244 North Main Street, Branford. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, at St. Mary Church, 731 Main Street, Branford, of which he was communicant for 65 years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to a charity of your choice.

We are heart-broken with the loss of as loving, strong, and benevolent a patriarch a family could hope to have. We will miss him profoundly.