William "Bill" O'Leary

Cortland - William “Bill” O’Leary, 95, passed away peacefully on Feb. 28th, 2018 at Ohio Living Park Vista.

Mr. O’Leary, known to his family and friends as “Bill”, or in his younger years as “Wild Bill”, was born on June 25, 1922 in New Castle, PA. He was a son of Joseph and Margaret (Vatter) O’Leary. Bill was the second child of seven born to Joseph and Margaret.

Bill was a 1940 graduate of New Castle High School.  In October 1942, he was inducted into the Army during World War II.   He became a Corporal in the Army Air Corp and served in the China-Burma-India Theater working as an Airplane Armorer having the distinction of servicing the historical P-40 American Fighter Aircraft, better known as “The Flying Tigers”.  He was honorably discharged in December 1945 from the 25th Fighter Squadron.  He received an American Theater Ribbon and an Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with three bronze stars.

Following his service in World War II, Bill returned to New Castle where he met the love of his life, Kathleen (Kay) Schooley, at a dance on Valentine’s Day.  He and Kay were united in marriage on June 7th, 1947 and were very blessed to have celebrated their 70th anniversary last June.

Bill was the owner of “The Pub” in Mahoningtown, PA for many years.  Bill and Kay retired to California in 1978 where they resided for over 10 years and then moved to Las Vegas where they enjoyed another 20 years.  Bill worked in security at the McCarran Airport in Las Vegas where he made many friends.

They moved to Ohio in 2009 and had resided in both Vienna and Cortland.

He was a very avid baseball fan and thoroughly looked forward to the start of every season. He enjoyed watching everything from Little League to the MLB games. His favorite team was always the Atlanta Braves (sorry Pittsburgh Pirates!) 

He is survived by his loving and devoted wife Kay;  six children, Maureen (Ron) Marginian of Howland, OH Kathy (Fidel) Salazar of Henderson, NV;  Tim (Gail) O’Leary of Pearland, TX, Colleen (Jerry) Williams of Carlsbad, CA, Terry O’Leary of Chandler, AZ and Shaun O’Leary of Youngstown, OH,  eight grandchildren, Bob (Tricia) O’Leary, Shannon (John) Aslanis, Roseann (Mike) Oberle, Michael (JeriLee) O’Brien, Shaina (Brandon) Smith, Ryan O’Leary, Brianna Williams, Taylor Williams, and10 great-grandchildren.

 Bill also leaves his sister Patricia Pugh of New Castle, PA, brothers Don (Jane) O’Leary of Indianapolis, IN, Jack (Patti) O’Leary of Mt. Pleasant, SC and Bob O’Leary of Mt. Pleasant, SC, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Besides his parents, Bill was predeceased by a daughter Mary Patricia, his brother Joseph O’Leary and his sister Margaret Brown.

The family would like to express their sincere appreciation for the care provided by Ohio Living Park Vista of Youngstown, Ohio, as well as the support and comfort provided by Ohio Living Hospice.

Family and friends may pay their respects from 3 to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 23 at St. Robert Bellarmine Church 4659 Niles-Cortland Rd. Cortland, Ohio where a mass will be celebrated at 4 p.m. with Rev.Carl Kish officiating.  A celebration of Bill’s life will be held by the family following the service.

In lieu of Flowers, the family requests material tributes take the form of contributions to Ohio Living Hospice at 6715 Tippecanoe Road, Canfield, Ohio 44406.

The family has entrusted their loved one to the care of the Peter Rossi & Son Memorial Chapel 1884North Road NE, in Warren, Ohio.

            Family and friends may visit www.peterrossiandsonfh.com to view this obituary, sign the guest book and send condolences to the O’Leary family.

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