Read and comment on this story from the Portland Press Herald on Venezuela RPCV Bill Hoadley. Read about his service in the Peace Corps in one of the first contingents that went over in the 60's. Read about the well known restaurant in Portland, Maine that is named after him. Read how he touched hundreds of people's lives. Read the full story at:
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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.
William (Bill) Hoadley
CAPE ELIZABETH - William (Bill) Hoadley, one of Maine's best known athletes of the 1950's, died at his Cape Elizabeth home, January 17, 2002.
He was born March 2, 1935, a son of Portland City Alderman, James Hoadley and Alice O'Donnell Hoadley.
He graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School in 1953, where he was captain of Cape's 1953 state champion basketball team and was the state tournament MVP.
He was also captain of the baseball team, and excelled on the track and swimming teams.
Each year he was in high school he was voted to the all-star teams in every sport.
As a 15-year-old high school freshman in 1950, he was the Greater Portland Legion baseball batting champion with a .485 batting average and, in the following year, was batting champion again with a .548 average.
In 1952, he led South Portland's Morrill Post American Legion baseball team to the State Championship and the finals of the eastern regional American Legion baseball tournament.
He was voted MVP of the state tournament.
Carroll Rines, a former sportswriter, who spent decades as a plate umpire at local high school, college and American Legion baseball games, was asked how many of the hundreds of catchers he stood behind were better than Hoadley.
He replied simply, 'none'.
Following graduation from Cape Elizabeth H.S., he spent a year at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.
At both Brewster, and as a freshman at Bates College in 1954 -55, he was a standout on the varsity football, basketball, and baseball teams.
He left Bates in 1955, and after deciding to reject two offers to play minor league baseball, he joined the Army where he served as a radio intercept operator at a remote army security station on an island off the Korean coast.
Shortly after he returned to Maine in 1962, he was recruited by the Peace Corps, then a new government program, to work as a coach and recreation director among the poor in Latin America.
He was among the earliest Peace Corps volunteers.
After receiving Spanish language training at California State University at Alhambra he was sent to Venezuela to establish a baseball training program for youngsters in the barrios of Maracaibo.
Following two years service in Venezuela, he was hired by the Peace Corps as a national recruiter for the western states, particularly California, Oregon and Washington.
He returned to Maine in 1966.
For several years he was the caretaker at the Falmouth Foreside estate of the late William Palmer and later worked for Koch Industries at its South Portland marine terminal.
He has been retired for several years.
Mr. Hoadley continued his association with sports throughout his lifetime.
The late Eddie Griffin, owner of a South Portland tavern and well-known promoter of sports throughout Maine, was a close friend.
One of Mr. Hoadley's other friends, Bob Coombs, said, 'Eddie and Billy were a duo.
For many years Billy lived upstairs over Eddie's business establishment.
They were together alot - usually at sporting events.' Local attorney Harold Pachios was Hoadley's lifetime friend.
He said, 'Bill has been an extremely close friend since third grade.
I never met anyone with a sharper mind, quicker wit, or a friendlier personality, and I never met anyone who was, despite his hundreds of friendships, so totally committed to marching to his own drummer.
He did it his way.
His rejection of professional baseball offers is just one of many examples,' Another lifelong friend, Albert (Ted) Gibbons of Yarmouth, observed, 'Billy never went anywhere he didn't become the most popular guy in the place.
At the same time, he was well informed and thoughtful about the nation and world.
He never married and had children of his own but for hundreds of people in Greater Portland, including many young people, he was a part of their family, as he was of mine.'
Mr.Hoadley is survived by a 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.
Jon St. Laurent is the owner of the well-known Portland eatery, Uncle Billy's, which is named after Mr. Hoadley.
He also leaves his lifelong closest friend, whom he considered a brother, Albert DeSantis of Dallas, Texas, and his wife, Marcia.
A memorial gathering will be held Saturday 2-4 p.m. Jan. 19, 2002, at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Rd., So. Portland.
Friends and family are invited to Uncle Billy's Restaurant, 69 Newbury St., Portland at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, 2002 for a farewell toast.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Cape Elizabeth Fire and Rescue Unit 2, Jordan Way, Cape Elizabeth, Maine 04107.
A graveside service will be held in the spring in Riverside Cemetery, Cape Elizabeth, at a time to be announced.
William (Bill) Hoadley
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