William (Bill) Lockwood passed away at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, New Hampshire, on January 14, after suffering the long-term effects of Covid and a recurrence of the cancer he had kept at bay for many years, surrounded by his loving wife of nearly 44 years and her sister, brother, brother- in- law and nephew. Bill was born in 1949 to the late Harry and Marguerite Lockwood, in Baltimore, Maryland, where he lived and thrived until the early 90s, then settling in Vermont where he continued to thrive until the present. He lived a happy, active, and full life. He was much loved by his wife’s family, sadly not having much family of his own, his numerous friends, co-workers throughout his social work career and his adopted community of Bellows Falls, Vermont. He especially loved being an uncle. Bill will always be remembered for his warm and welcoming smile, cheerful and optimistic nature, sense of humor, generous spirit, kindness, and willingness to help. He loved good conversation and could talk to anyone from anywhere about anything and had the ability to stop everything and just listen, making anyone feel like the most important person in the room. Above all, he will be remembered for his unconditional love for his wife, family and friends.

Bill had numerous and varied interests and many talents, most beginning at a young age. He pursued his passions for writing, reading, theater, music,concerts, liberal politics, film, trivia, carpentry, making models, trains ( real ones and models) the outdoors and travel his entire life. He added new ones along the way- including gardening, entertaining, being what he called his wife’s “sous chef”, summer grilling, with his favorite beer in hand, helping with his wife’s Christmas cookies, and exploring the Vermont State Parks. He loved working with his hands, and growing up he wanted to be a carpenter, but his parents insisted he go to college. Some highlights from his Baltimore years include attending Calvert Hall High School , four years playing the trumpet for the Baltimore Colts Marching Band, and graduating from Loyola University, with a major in Political Science. Immediately after graduation he began his long career as a social worker, working for the state of Maryland as a juvenile and foster care case worker for about 20 years. He started his lifelong involvement in community theater while in high school, and eventually was one of the founders of the very successful Fells Point Theater-which later became the Fells Point Corner Theater, that still exists today, where he directed plays, operated lights and sound, sound, played drums and guitar, built sets, wrote programs and press releases, and did whatever had to be done- from painting to cleaning toilets or meeting with argumentative zoning council members.

Bill met his wife, Jeanie, his life-long partner and soulmate, when she moved to Baltimore in 1974 and she began doing shows with the same community theater groups he worked with. They married in 1979 and started their adventures together. They traveled to Quebec and Europe many times as chaperones for student trips which his wife organized for her work as a language teacher. Summers would also be spent traveling to New England and Long Island to visit family and stay at many parks and B & Bs. He especially loved Boston, Portland, Ogunquit, and Acadia National Park, Maine, as well as London, Paris, Monet’s Garden at Giverny, Vienna and Budapest. They also did a brief stint teaching English in Korea and made trips to Mexico and Puerto Rico. He had an unending curiosity for people and places and was always filing away observations and trivia for future writing projects.

After his wife attended graduate school at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, they fell in love with the Green Mountain state and decided to move there permanently in 1994. They settled in Bellows Falls, where they renovated an historic “Painted Lady” ( for which they won a Rockingham Old House Award) and brought his parents from Baltimore to spend their last years together. After his parents passing, they converted the in-law apartment into a B&B, the Village Guest Suite until they sold the house.

After coming to Vermont, Bill continued his career (what he jokingly referred to as his “day job”) in social work with the State of Vermont, for about 17 years, working in foster care, long term care and as a benefits worker. He was a much-respected case worker, well known for his compassion towards others. When not getting paid to work, he quickly found opportunities to pursue his many interests. The couple established themselves as community volunteers when they joined the Our Town Civic Organization in Bellows Falls, dedicated to improving the cultural life of the area and preserving its rich history. First came the restoration of the Clock Tower at the Town Hall, which led to Bill volunteering to be the Chairman of the Bellows Falls Opera House Restoration Committee, acting as a liaison with the Town Selectboard, State Representatives, and the many town volunteers who wanted to see the Opera House spruced up and become a multi- purpose cultural facility. With his wife and small group of people with community theater backgrounds, they formed the Front Porch Theater Company, which produced many plays, including the original “Front Porch Tales” ( written by the members themselves) “Vagina Monologues” (the first official production after the restoration) a production for the Rockingham 250th Celebration, and a very successful, multi-year summer concert series that used the charming front porches and other historic venues in the village . They also organized other events and projects, including a cookbook. All the funds raised by the group were donated to the restoration fund. Bill was awarded the Greater Falls Regional Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year in 2006 in recognition of his nearly 10 years of work as Chairman of the committee.

Bill remained an active volunteer with several area community theaters until recently, helping out at Main Street Arts, Wild Goose Players, Springfield Players, Walpole Players and River Theater- writing press releases and articles, building sets, directing, stage managing and being an all-around “go-to” guy. The only thing he wouldn’t do was act or sing (although he was known to do a cameo or two), preferring to work behind the scenes.

He began his freelance news writing sideline in 1998, covering the arts, community events and interesting people first for the Bellows Falls “Town Crier” and then for other local news publications (“The Shopper/Vermont Journal” and “Eagle Times” of Claremont, NH) as well as various Vermont tourist magazines. One of his favorite assignments was reviewing the Weston Playhouse 2022 summer season.

After his retirement he realized his life-long dream of having his first novel published and started devoting himself more fully to writing novels and short stories. Bill had six historical fiction novels published by The Wild Rose Press: “Buried Gold” 2016, “Megan of the Mists” 2017, “Ms. Anna” 2018, “The Monsignor’s Agents” 2020, “Gare de Lyon” 2021, and “Forced Entry?” 2022. His short story “The Kids Won’t Leave” appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of “Two Hawks Quarterly”, “Pizza, Pizza” appeared in “The Raven’s Perch” April 28, 2021, and ” Manny the Pizza Guy” was recently published in “The Evening Street Review”, Winter 2022 edition. In addition, he wrote reviews for various literary journals. In the months before he passed away and had begun editing “Boulevard des Zouaves”, the sequel to “Gare de Lyon”, set in WWII Morocco and France, which his wife promised that she would complete and return to his editor for publication. Not surprisingly, he had other books in the works, including “ This Year’s Crop” a novel he wrote set in Vermont based on some of his experiences with foster kids and backwoods marijuana farms, and a mystery story set in a rural town, that involved his love of trains. He enjoyed setting his writing in places he had traveled to, including foods he had eaten and composites of people he had met. When he used a setting he hadn’t been to (i.e. Malta or Casablanca ) he did extensive research and no one was the wiser. He loved all kinds of music and always had something playing while he wrote- from folk songs, anti-war, country, Irish, French, Dixieland, Broadway ( especially Les Miz and Hamilton) Linda Ronstadt , Emmy Lou Harris , Bette Midler, James Taylor Wynton Marsalis to the Chieftains.

He leaves behind his wife, Jeanie Levesque, his sister -in-law MJ Trask and her husband Ben, his brother-in-law Jeff Levesque, and his wife Bev, niece Laura Levesque, her husband Russ and children Alex, Althea and Caleb, nephew David Levesque and his children Rachel and Chris, niece Michelle Januzzi Marshall and her husband Erik, nephew Nick Januzzi, his wife Veronica and their daughter Gia, and several of his wife’s cousins.

A joyful Celebration of Life, in an informal, outdoor setting, is planned for September, his favorite month. There is no doubt that Bill touched many lives. To honor his memory, the family suggests: a donation to the Bellows Falls Opera House (bellowsfallsoperahouse.com) perhaps sharing a donation with others to sponsor a classic film or for the “Take a Seat” campaign, or The Rockingham Public Library (rockinghamlibrary.org) especially for Adult Programming related to history or politics, or the Wild Goose Players (wildgooseplayers.com).

His family would like to thank the doctors, nurses, staff and the Palliative Care team at Dartmouth Hitchcock for the attentive and compassionate care he received.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Fenton and Hennessey Funeral Home 55 Westminster Street, Bellows Falls, VT.

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