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WILLIAM HOADLEY, SUPERB ATHLETE, FILLED WITH IRISH WIT AND CHARM DIES AT 66
Jan 18, 2002 - Portland Press Herald Author(s): Melanie Creamer
William Hoadley of 5 Ocean View Road, a star athlete and "quintessential Irishman," died Thursday at his home. He was 66.
Born in Portland, a son of then-Alderman James Hoadley and Alice O'Donnell Hoadley, he excelled athletically at Cape Elizabeth High School, graduating in 1953. Of his many athletic achievements, one of his proudest was leading the basketball team in his senior year to a state championship. He was the tournament MVP. He was also captain of the baseball team, a catcher known for his sizzling throws to second.
He also excelled in track and swimming.
Mr. Hoadley rejected two offers to play minor league baseball. He was a Red Sox fan.
He was the type of guy that people were drawn to. "He was a real character who brought a smile to so many faces through his humor and wit," said his nephew, Jon St. Laurent, owner of Uncle Billy's Restaurant, which is named after Mr. Hoadley.
"He had so many engaging personality traits that I admired. He was the type of guy that would take people to the edge, and they loved him for that. He was a charmer, entertainer, and a great dancer," he said.
A St. Patrick's Day newspaper story once described Mr. Hoadley as a "quintessential Irishman, fair-skinned, pink-cheeked, hilarious, and slightly wild, with a wonderful Irish tenor voice that gets better the more he bellows. He covers the jolly side of being Irish, his eyes twinkling, his humor dancing on the border between innocence and indelicacy."
Mr. Hoadley left Bates College in 1955 to join the Army, serving as a radio intercept operator at a remote station on an island off the Korean coast.
He returned to Maine in 1962, and was among the earliest recruited by the Peace Corps.
After receiving Spanish language training at California State University at Alhambra, he was sent to Venezuela for two years to establish a baseball training program for youngsters in the barrios of Maracaibo.
Mr. Hoadley is survived by his sister, Barbara St. Laurent of Cape Elizabeth, a half-brother Francis Campbell of Washington, D.C., two nephews, Jon St. Laurent and Michael St. Laurent, and a niece, Nancy Shedd.
A memorial gathering will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland. Friends and family are invited to Uncle Billy's Restaurant, 69 Newbury St., Portland, for a farewell toast at 5 p.m. Sunday.
A graveside service will be held in the spring at Riverside Cemetery in Cape Elizabeth.
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