William Byron Jr.

WESTBROOK — William J. Byron Jr., 96, of Westbrook and formerly of Sebago and Rochester, N.H., died in Portland on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016.

Born in Exeter, N.H., on Sept. 21, 1920, he was the son of William J. and Elizabeth Cox Byron. He moved to East Rochester in the late 1930s, where he lived until he moved to Sebago in 2003.

William attended the Maine School for the Deaf in Portland. He left school at the age of 16, when his father passed away, to move back home to help his sisters, Addie and Bertha, support their mother. He was the oldest living alumna of the school for the deaf after his friend and classmate Miles Hawkins died in 2013.

William worked at Hubbard Shoe and Allen & Hall Box Factory, and retired from Thompson Center Arms, where he assembled muskets.

William loved to dance; even being deaf, no one would know he couldn’t hear the music. He loved woodworking and tinkering with machinery, and always was out in his shop building or fixing something. He seemed to be able to fix anything.

He also enjoyed his gun collection and hunting and fishing with his brother-in-law Johnny and nephew Wayne Baribeault. William bagged a moose with his stepson John Levesque in 2006.

William was a member of the Westbrook Deaf Senior Citizens, where he enjoyed socializing with others who were deaf, playing Bingo and card games and going out to eat.

William was predeceased by his father, William Byron Sr.; his mother, Elizabeth Cox Byron; his brother, Joseph Byron; and his sisters, Lydia Hersom, Evelyn Dane, Adelaide Baribeault and Bertha Byron. He was also predeceased by his infant son, Richard; his wife, Dorothy Costello Byron, in 2008; and wife Jane Leighton Levesque Byron, in 2011.

Survivors include his nieces and nephews; as well as his stepchildren, Norma Boulanger and Lawrence Levesque of Windham, John Levesque of Standish, and Nola Scott of Somersworth, N.H.; and many great-nieces and great-nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 30, at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, 299 Main Street, Gorham, followed by a reception at the church. To express condolences or participate in William’s online tribute, visit: www.dolbyfuneralchapels.com

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Maine Deaf Senior Citizens, 140 Old Alfred Road, East Waterboro, ME 04030-5110.