Interment will be private.
Our cherished husband, father, grandfather, and friend, William J. Soriano of Green Brook, NJ, 93, passed away on Monday, September 29, 2025, at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Somerville due to complications of a stroke, suffered on June 26, 2025. William “Bill” Soriano was born on May 12, 1932, in Somerville and grew up inContinue Reading
Our cherished husband, father, grandfather, and friend, William J. Soriano of Green Brook, NJ, 93, passed away on Monday, September 29, 2025, at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Somerville due to complications of a stroke, suffered on June 26, 2025.
William “Bill” Soriano was born on May 12, 1932, in Somerville and grew up in Raritan Borough in Somerset County on Nevius Street, raised by his father, Anthony and his aunts, Mary, Helen and Jenny Soriano, along with his uncle, Pat Soriano. His mother, Minne, died when he was a child. While living in Raritan, he learned to swim in the Raritan River, hunted rabbits on Dorris Duke’s property in neighboring Hillsborough, and once, on a dare, walked across the top of the Nevius Street Bridge between Raritan and Hillsborough!
He graduated from what was then named Somerville High School in 1950, and shortly thereafter joined the United States Navy, serving on active duty from June 29, 1951 to June 21, 1955. He served on the USS Rockwall, a Haskell-class attack transport, and the USS Marquette, an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship during their 6th Fleet deployment to the Mediterranean Sea.
While on leave, Bill met the love of his life, Rose Marie DeVico of Scotch Plains, NJ, and the two were married on May 26, 1957. Their first child, Anthony, was born in 1958, followed by Anna Marie in 1961, and Lisa in 1963. When first married, Bill and Rose Marie (“Babe” to him) lived in an apartment on West Sixth Street in Plainfield, NJ. In September of 1960, they purchased a home on Andrew Street in Green Brook, where they both lived until his illness and where Rose Marie continues to live, along with her daughter, Lisa Soriano. Bill and Babe were married for nearly 68 years.
Bill worked for a short time at Johns Manville in Manville, NJ. He subsequently opened a gas station in Raritan with his brother-in-law, Louis DeVico, however the venture was short lived. Following this, Bill found employment at Public Service Electric and Gas where he worked as a technician for gas utilities for over 30 years until his retirement at age 62. He and Babe had a 31-year retirement in which he enjoyed their home and family and modest travel to Edmonds, WA, Charolette, NC, Washington DC, Annapolis MD, Ithaca and the Finger lakes NY, Orlando, FL, Cape May, NJ, Fort Collins, CO, Bar Harbor, ME, Rehoboth, DE and several cruises to Bermuda and New England. Lancaster, PA, was a yearly visit and Lahaska, PA, was a favorite weekend drive.
Bill was a kind, unassuming and secretly sensitive man who worked hard all his life for not enough reward, spending vacations fixing his car or maintaining his home. He loved photography, tending his vegetable garden, taking walks with Buddy the cat, who liked to sleep beside him with a paw on his face, and later, Buddy the dog, who would sleep at his feet. He loved talking with neighbors he met on his walks with both the cat and dog, cowboy, gangster and war movies, (and occasional rom/com) and TV: in his later years he would binge watch “In The Heat Of the Night” and “Heartlands” in the afternoons (with his eyes closed). He loved Babe’s cooking (way too much) and anyone’s cooking after that (eating was his superpower). Yuengling was his beer and Valpolicella his wine (although he would not say no to a nice Chianti). Crumb cake and coffee were his nirvana. He loved reading (particularly John Grisham and Mario Puzo), but a restaurant menu was really his favorite reading material. He loved his 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis.
He loved music and had a large collection of records, tapes and cd’s and was proud of his stereo systems. Tony Bennet, Neil Diamond and Yanni were among his favorites, and he, who was hard of hearing, would play them VERY LOUD whenever he could.
Most of all, he loved his wife and family and would do anything for them. Babe was his loving caretaker through most of his life, but when she suffered an illness leaving her blind in early 2024, he became a caretaker to her as best he could at the age of 91. He was a proud Pop-Pop to his five grandchildren, John W. Davis V, Jeffrey Sime, Joe Sime, Kristina Rose Marie Davis, and Gregg Sime.
Bill is sadly predeceased by his granddaughter, Kristina Rose Marie Davis, who passed on February, 14 2015, at the age of 15, and his grandson, Jeffery Sime, who passed on June 26, 2025, at the age of 33.
He is survived by his wife, Rose Marie Soriano; his daughters, Anna Marie Sime and Lisa Soriano; his son, Anthony and his life partner, Lesli Ann Godown; his grandchildren, John W. Davis V, Joseph Sime and his life partner, Rachelle Falls, Gregg Sime, and Jeffery’s life partner Chrystal Wessel.
Bill will lie in repose where family and friends will gather to remember and celebrate his life on Sunday, October 5, 2025, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.
United States Navy Funeral Honors followed by a Funeral Service will take place at 3:00 p.m. at the funeral home following the gathering, and to which all are welcome.
Interment at the Shrine of St. Joseph, Stirling, NJ, will take place privately.
You are encouraged to visit Bill’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of his life.
Memorial contributions in his honor and memory may be made The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation by clicking HERE or to the National Brain Tumor Society by clicking HERE. Any and all contributions are greatly appreciated by the family.
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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”
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