William "Bill" Benn Gares

On December 26, 2021, William Benn (Bill) Gares, 79, passed peacefully with family by his side after several months of medical challenges. Bill was born in New Brunswick, NJ, son of the late Walter H. Gares and Alice (Benn) Gares.

Bill graduated from New Brunswick High School, and later served in the New Jersey National Guard and Reserves. He was an accomplished craftsman, machinist, woodworker, auto mechanic and general-fixer-of-all-things. He was employed for many years under Haveg Industries and Hercules Incorporated, and retired under Montell (LyondellBassell). He was passionate about spending time with his family, and supportive of the many activities they were all involved in, including various sports and creative pursuits. He loved nothing more than crabbing, clamming and fishing with his family on the Wye River, Delaware Bay and at Indian River Inlet. The best of those days ended with a pile of crabs on the center of the table, and family gathered around to share stories, tell jokes and play cards.

Bill was predeceased by his wife of 45 years, Carol W. Gares, whom he missed deeply since her passing in 2019. He was also predeceased by his beloved brother, Walter G. Gares (Roberta (Mack) Gares surviving) of Rawlings, MD, his sister Mary Alice (Gares) Bruno (Frank Bruno) of Cranbury, NJ, and his brother Robert Gares of Florida. He is survived by his two children; son William B. Gares II (Lynanne (McGee) Gares) of Bear, DE and daughter Sheri Woodruff (Linda Wastack) of Manasquan, NJ.  He is also survived by two beloved grandsons, Justin and Kyle Gares of Bear, DE. He is further survived by many nieces and nephews, and his big-eared Yorkshire Terrier, Teddy.

A memorial of his life and seafood feast in honor of Bill will be arranged for family and friends in the spring of 2022. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in Bill’s memory may be sent to Animal Alliance of NJ, P.O. Box 1285, Belle Meade, NJ 08502 or at www.animalalliancenj.org.

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