Mayor’s Father, World War II Veteran, Passes Away

Mayor Bill Finch’s father William Finch Sr., a World War II veteran, passed away Tuesday morning surrounded by the mayor and family. To know the mayor’s father was to meet a prince, bright eyed, conversational, engaged on the subject of workers rights and the sacrifices of men and women in the military. The elder Finch served both at D-Day in Normandy and in the Battle of Okinawa. He was 89.

He had a gentleness about him, although having witnessed the horrors of war. He was always available for assistance in the political campaigns of his adopted son, whether City Council, State Senate or enjoying the inaugural of the city’s chief executive in 2007.

In June, the mayor’s father was saluted in an emotional D-Day ceremony that was covered by News 12.

On that day the mayor announced:

Many people in Bridgeport and across Connecticut fought to save us from evil during WWII. My father was one of the many honorable members of the Allied forces who fought for our country. To my father and the more than one hundred thousand soldiers that fought for our country seventy years ago, I salute and thank you. It’s an honor to stand in the presence of such honorable people who sacrificed so much.”

In 2008, the mayor presented his father medals commemorating service in World War II as part of a ceremony to raise donations for construction of a memorial on McLevy Hall Downtown. The mayor said:

“My Dad was a U.S. Navy sailor in World War II. Yes, he was just one among the many, but his experiences clearly demonstrate the hardships and horrific conditions that these brave men and women lived through. They didn’t complain. They did their duty and kept our country free. This is why we need to remember them. This is why we need the World War II Memorial currently under construction at McLevy Hall in downtown Bridgeport.”