William Smith Weiner
HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – William Smith Weiner passed away due to complications of a respiratory condition on April 18, 2020. Bill was born in Roxbury, Mass., on November 30, 1940, the son of Nathan and Edith Weiner.
He graduated from Deering High School in 1958, and received his degree in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1966, where he also joined the professional fraternity Kappa Psi and was known fondly as “Wild Bill from Beacon Hill”.Following college graduation he returned to Portland where he acquired the family business, Steele Drug Store. He owned and operated the drug store until he sold it to the small local drugstore chain LaVerdiere’s, where he worked as a pharmacist. After his tenure there, he worked at RiteAid until he retired, ultimately relocating to Westchester County New York to be close to family.
Bill was much loved and highly respected as a professional, continuing to function as a compounding pharmacist making custom formulated pharmaceuticals long after others had abandoned this important practice. He would often make personal emergency deliveries in Portland to his customers at night, holidays, and weekends. His store remained open every Christmas when all other pharmacies were closed, all for the well being of the community.
Bill married Anita S. Gottschalk in August of 1965. They raised three sons and enjoyed 30 years of marriage together. They spent frequent weekends with the family at Old Orchard Beach and Collins Pond, traveling to Boston to watch Red Sox games, and taking family trips to destinations including Cape Cod and Mexico.Bill was a loving and involved father to his three children. He encouraged and funded their education (both academic and musical), and taught them the importance of kindness and generosity in a variety of different ways including sponsoring and umpiring for Little League 6 Baseball, donating regularly to charities, and routinely overtipping wait staff whenever dining out.Bill’s other interests included motorcycles, sports cars, high fidelity sound reproduction, photography, and cooking for the family on the weekends, all of which he pursued with great joy and exuberance. He was known to everyone as fun loving, witty, and easygoing.
Bill was predeceased by his parents, Nathan Weiner and Edith Weiner (Zarchan), and by his sister, Judith.
He is survived by his son, Daniel N. Weiner, daughter-in-law, Deborah Cahn-Weiner, and their children, Zachary and Jakob; his son, Joseph B. Weiner, daughter-in-law, Stephanie Shen, and their children, Sukie and Jeremy, and Jack Williams; and his son, Jonathan B. Weiner, daughter-in-law Lisa Ramos Weiner, and their children, Zoe and Eva, his sister, Anita Rittenberg and her husband, Moshe, and their nine children, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Private burial will be at Temple Beth El cemetery with services at a later date to be decided and announced. You may offer your condolences and share your memories at www.dignitymemorial.com/funeral-homes/portland-me/jones-rich-barnes-funeral-home/1633
In lieu of flowers, donations in his honour to Andrus On Hudson, the residence that took great care of him during his final years, may be made to: https://www.mightycause.com/story/N5ch4g
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Share your condolences, kind words and remembrances below. You must be logged into the website to comment. Subscribers, please login. Not a subscriber? Register to comment for free or subscribe to support our work.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.