William "Bill" Sembiante of Stratford, Connecticut, 91, passed peacefully with his family by his side on December 29, 2024 at Yale New Haven Hospital following complications from cancer treatment.

Bill was born in the Bronx, into a hardworking and tightly knit Italian family living out the American Dream. In the 1950's the Sembiante family moved to Stratford, Connecticut seeking the pleasures and opportunities of suburban life and where Bill attended Stratford High School. After graduation, Bill proudly joined the United States Navy serving on the U.S.S. Albany. He often reminisced about his naval experience as being the adventure of his lifetime. Stationed in Virginia, his strong ties to family drew him to hitchhike home to Stratford many weekends. During one Labor Day weekend visit home in 1953 Bill met his future wife Elizabeth Janovich at Short Beach. Bill and Elizabeth shared a powerful love, married and had three children. Bill was an extraordinary husband, father and brother; dedicated, loving, peaceful, funny, hardworking, and caring. Nothing made Bill happier than simply being with his family. From the 1960s to the 1980s he worked at American Chain and Cable Company/The Allison Company. In the 1980s when manufacturing moved overseas, Bill was able to return to the work he loved, home building and general construction work, where he reveled in his daily tasks and thrived in the friendships he made. To know the Sembiante family is to know they are builders. Bill loved the experience of building homes for his sons in the 1990s and passed his extensive construction knowledge and skill to them. The early 2000's brought a Parkinson's disease diagnosis to his wife Elizabeth, and with that the beginning of a truly demanding and epic period of caregiving until his wife's passing 7 weeks before his own. Elizabeth never spent a day in the hospital, not a day in a care facility, as Bill pushed himself to keep his bride from her worst fears, all while in his 80's and 90's.

The signature characteristics of Bill's life deserve mention. Bill's eagerness to help others, consistently showing up early with his tools and getting to work for a friend or family member. Bill's desire to make everyone feel he was always on their side and caring about what they needed. Bill's loyal and generous capacity to listen with a non-judgmental ear was a gift to others and will be dearly missed. The most magnetic of his beautiful traits were his warm smile and desire to connect with a joke or funny story.  Many of those jokes were at his own expense, and some favorite family moments were when he accepted good-natured teasing with grace and a good laugh.

He is predeceased by his father and mother Giacomo "Jack" and Catherine "Kitty" Sembiante and his wife Elizabeth (Janovich) Sembiante. He is survived by his three sons: William Sembiante and wife Iris, David Sembiante and wife Kimberly, and Bob Sembiante; identical twin brother and best friend Thomas Sembiante and wife Janet; sister Marie Rizzo and husband Felice; grandson Julian Shadeck and great-grandchildren Julian Shadeck Jr. and Ezekiel Shadeck; Uncle Anthony "Butch" Trapani; and many loved cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Memorial services will be held Saturday, January 4, 2025, at Adzima Funeral Home, 50 Paradise Green Place, Stratford, CT.  Calling hours are between 8:30 and 10 a.m. with eulogies and prayers at 10 a.m.  Burial procession to St. John's Cemetery, 2610 Nicols Ave., Stratford will immediately follow.