Obituary of William J. Delaney

William J. “Bill” Delaney, 79, a resident at Brooksby Village, Peabody and a retired minister of Visitation at the West Congregational Church in West Peabody, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, December 7, 2009 after a short illness. He was born in Chelsea, MA on October 24,1930, the son of the late M. Mildred (Pinksten) Delaney and the late William H. Delaney. He was a graduate of Chelsea High School in 1948 and had resided in Malden before moving to Symphony Road in West Peabody in 1962. He was the husband of the late Pauline E. (Peach) Delaney who went home to be with the Lord on December 13, 1981. He is survived by five sons and two daughters-in-law, Glenn W. and his wife Nancy, Robert K and Barbara Delaney all of Peabody, William H. Delaney of Middleton, Donald E. and Paul H. Delaney both of Wakefield, a daughter and son-in-law, Denise and Francis Coakley of Peabody, nine grandchildren, Amy Armfield, Lisa LaRiviere, Stacy Flynn, Kathryn, Lauren and Justin Delaney, Heather Klausmeyer, and Christy and Alex Rocklein; five great grandchildren, Hunter LaRiviere, Sean Flynn, Kendall LaRiviere, Colton Klausmeyer and Wyatt Klausmeyer . Mr. Delaney had been associated with the home office of the John Hancock Life Insurance Company in Boston for over 35 years where he was manager of the Production Control Division and later became a Systems Manager of Data Processing until his retirement in 1984. Following his retirement, he attended some courses at the Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and in February, 1985, became the Minister of Visitation at the West Congregational Church. Each month Mr. Delaney conducted worship services at the Rosewood, Pilgrim House and the Rainbow Nursing Homes in Peabody, the Radius Healthcare at Danvers, the Brighton Gardens Assisted Living and Heritage at Danvers Assisted Living in Danvers and Sunrise Assisted Living at Gardner Park in Peabody. He did this until April of 2008 when he had to cancel due to illness. He served as Minister of Visitation from 1985 until his retirement in 2008 at West Congregational Church. He was also the choir director there since 1990 and served as chairman of the Boston Center for the Billy Graham Telephone Ministry from 1987-2002 . He was a member of the John Hancock Retirees Association. Bill enjoyed music, traveling and being involved with people. Since 1985, he enjoyed his annual vacations at the Word of Life Bible Resort in Florida and at Willowbank, a Christian resort in Bermuda A Funeral Service of a celebration of his life will be held on Friday, December 11,2009 at 10:30 AM at the West Congregational Church, 27 Johnson St., West Peabody. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday from 2:30 until 4:30 PM and 7:00 until 9:00 PM at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home at the 82 Lynn ST., Peabody facility. Burial will be in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park, Peabody. Memorial Gifts and expressions of sympathy may be made to the West Congregational Memorial Fund, 27 Johnson St., Peabody, MA 01960 in his memory.