William “Will” Larese, 61, passed away on August 3, 2022 having fought a courageous battle against cancer for a second time, having been diagnosed years ago with stage 4 Hodgkins and surviving. Then diagnosed last year with lung cancer that had spread to his liver. Will underwent 6 months of chemotherapy, learning most recently that it had spread to his brain. He bravely underwent brain radiation treatment that failed.
Will was born in Memphis Tennessee on January 24, 1961, he was the son of Irvin and Patricia (Naylor) Larese. Will grew up in Memphis until the age of 12, when his family moved to Easthampton. He graduated from Easthampton High School and went on to take classes at the University of Massachusetts. He had several jobs in his early years, one being at Tubed Products, where he met his love, Ruby, in 1984, becoming married on September 9, 2000 they spent a total of 39 beautiful years together. Will worked for over 20+ years at the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Department, where he worked as a Correctional Officer, then transferring to Community Corrections, retiring in 2015. In his retirement he began working at Atkins Market in Amherst, as a “Mr. Fixit” where he enjoyed the friendship of both owners and co-workers. To know him was to love him.... Will enjoyed music of all kinds excepting “Country”. For relaxation, Will loved fishing, the Quabbin being his favorite spot, and for many years camping vacations with his family. He was a great cook, and always enjoyed good food, then there was his “quirky" sense of humor. Will was very proud of finishing two Boston Marathons, representing and raising money for Dana Farber. He was loved dearly by his family and his friends and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren. He will be dearly missed by his beloved wife Ruby (Purcell) Larese, his daughter Jamie Violette and her husband Justin, of Southampton, along with his young grand-children Jocelyn and Jacob. Will was pre-deceased by his son, Kevin Larese in 2014.
A very special part of his life was his grand-daughter, Lauren Dzialo having been raised by Ruby and Will for the majority of her life. He also leaves his brother Charles Larese and wife Barbara of Georgia and his sister Catherine and husband Donnis Short of Tennessee. Will’s sister, Irene, passed at the tender age of 18 from Hodgkins.
He will be dearly missed by Ruby’s daughters, Dawn, Stacy and Terry and his step- grand children - Krysta, Joshua, Jered, Jordan, Kaidyn, and Makayla, to whom he was “Grampy Will”.
All are invited to calling hours at the Boucher-O’Brien Funeral Home, 7 Pleasant St., Easthampton on Thursday, August 11 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm.
In Lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made on behalf of Will’s memory to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.