New Haven recently lost one of its most memorable residents when Wooster Street’s Bill Rossi passed away at the age of 97. Rossi was an avid reader, politically active and loved music. His earlier career as a heating and cooling contractor led to a teaching career at Platt Regional, but his true love was music. You would sometimes find him Saturday mornings playing his guitar at the Wooster Square Farmer’s Market. It’s something he planned on doing again this spring. And if you saw Bill walking around Wooster Square, you’d never believe his age…his erect stance and lively step belied his years.
Bill passed on his love for music to his son Marc, a successful pianist who teaches at the Berklee School of music in Boston.
But, it’s more than a love for music which the elder Rossi passed on to his son. “He provided me with many of the ideals by which I have tried to live my life,” Marc recalled in an interview conducted for his Dad’s 95th birthday. “[My father] joined the Seabees during the war because he said he didn’t want to have to kill anybody…[as a Seabee] the odds of killing were less. I always admired that he wanted to serve the war effort but didn’t want to kill.”
During Rossi’s service in the Pacific he gained the distinction of discovering a volcano on the Japanese Island of Tinian. According to the 67th Naval Construction Battalion Newsletter of March 31, 1945, Rossi hit the dirt to dodge bullets and burned himself on the hot ground. He found a volcano that still bears the name “Rossi’s Crater.”
Rossi was part of an inter-denominational, inter-racial veterans’ group, long before the Civil Rights movement. “They were very progressive, and proposed platforms for human rights,” Marc recalled. “The FBI watched them, because what business did an Italian, a Negro, and a Jew have forming a pro-veteran political group? Sounds like trouble, in pre-McCarthy America.”
In his quest to fight discrimination, Bill Rossi joined the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and sat on the executive board. Advocating for people’s rights and working for democracy were core reasons for his affiliation with the Masons. He felt the Masons never asked about one’s background, they just accepted you. He was a long-time member of Trumbull Lodge No. 22 in New Haven and for the last decade served as the lodge’s tiler. Rossi was designated by Trumbull Lodge an “Honorary Past Master” and was presented an apron attesting to his status by vote of the lodge.
In 1949 he married Christine Giaquinto of New Haven, and in 1952 son Marc was born. Bill and Christine divorced in 1972, and in 1973 he married Melatina Krainess of West Haven. They remained married until her death in 1991. In 1993, Rossi met Dorothy Catinello, and she remained his companion until her death in Nov. 2009.
In recent years, Rossi visited local schools and spoke about his experiences in the service during WW II. However, he spoke primarily about peace, seeing war as the last resort, and urged students to seek peace and try to create greater harmony in the world.
His son and sister Anne Pacelle of Southington survive Rossi six other siblings are deceased. William S. Rossi, 97, passed away on April 19, 2010 at Connecticut Hospice, after a brief illness.
Bill Rossi was the man you want to be when you grow up. He was a true gentleman of tremendous honor and integrity. He was always willing to share his wisdom when asked. He lived forward-- not backward, which, I am convinced, is why he seemed so youthful. Many of his friends were people in their 20's and 30's because he exuded verve and zest. I, and many others, greatly miss him.