Obituary Contributor
William (Bill) Chauncy Pisano Sr. died on March 26 at Mt. Auburn Hospital after a brief illness.
He was born in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sept. 15, 1940, the son of Frank and Christine Pisano. He had lived in Belmont for many years.
More than a hundred visitors, family, friends, and professional colleagues consoled his family at a visitation at Short Williamson and Diamond in Belmont on April 3. A funeral Mass was celebrated by Father Thomas Mahoney at St. Joseph’s Church on April 4.
The Mass was followed by lunch at Il Casale, where tributes from family and friends were heard.
Bill loved Belmont and served on the Conservation Commission for several decades, chairing the commission for 10 years. He was also a long-timer Town Meeting member.
As senior engineer on the Sewer and Stormwater Drainage Committee from 2004 until 2010, he applied his knowledge and skill in creating a hydraulic map of the sewer system in Belmont.
Bill also made a profound contribution to the Cambridge community through his many projects there.
Bill was also a proud member of the Board of the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Woods Hole, MA.
Bill was an internationally known engineer. His professional papers have been read by engineers on five continents and his long-time partnership and friendship with German engineer Hans Brombach led him to introduce ground-breaking German technology to many projects in the U.S.
Among his many awards, Bill received the American Council of Engineering Companies National Award for his Alewife Project in Cambridge.
Bill loved creating stone structures on his Rockport property, among them a 6-foot cairn and a large Zen garden. He also designed many other gardens on the property and built the bocce court that became a gathering place for beloved neighbors.
Bill loved and cherished his family, his wife of 54 years, Rosemary, his devoted son Liam and beloved daughter-in-law Lauren, his daughter Jessica, and her husband Andre Simoni and his dear grandsons, Trey, Quinn, and Oscar. He is also survived by his brother Mark and his wife Jane; a sister, Mary Ann Gardner and her husband Terry Strueven; nieces Leah McCrary and Marianna Ford Pisano and nephews Christopher Pisano and Clint Gardner.
Despite his credentials and accomplishments Bill “wore his status lightly,” as described by friend and colleague Owen O’Reardon.’ He will always be remembered as a loving, generous, kind, and an intellectual powerhouse.
