Obituary: William Shanahan, 96, of Branford

William Shanahan, age 96 of Branford, died peacefully on March 23, 2016, at The Connecticut Hospice in Branford.

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1920, Bill Shanahan was the youngest of the three children of John and Sarah Shanahan of Chicago.

He was the husband of the late Elaine Shanahan of Chicago, and the father of three, the late Kathleen Shanahan Timothy of Sands Point NY, William Shanahan Jr. of Storrs CT and Richard Shanahan of Branford CT. Bill is also survived by his four grandsons and four great-grandchildren.

Bill was a 1942 graduate of Notre Dame University and a veteran of the US Army infantry in Europe during WWII. After the war, Bill worked in corporate communications for International Harvester in Chicago, Mobil Oil in New York City, and The Stanley Works in New Britain, CT.

To friends and family, Bill was always a man of intelligence, wit and low-key geniality. His lifelong curiosity about the world around him was nurtured through voracious reading that ranged across subjects from philosophy through science, history, semantics, politics, technology, and more.

Bill's lifelong love of learning was a major component of his dry, subtle yet razor-sharp sense of humor. His somewhat self-effacing demeanor only amplified the effect of his countless and memorable one-liners.

He impressed everyone with his integrity, strength and love of his independence.

For those who knew and loved him, Bill will be terribly missed. But for his family there is considerable comfort in still having the legacy he provided through his endless interest in everything and his example of how to laugh at ourselves as we deal with the absurdities of life.