Obituary of William A. Stayer

Allegany, NY William A. Stayer, 72, of 4241 W. Branch Rd., passed away Wednesday (March 3, 2021) at the Olean General Hospital after a long illness. Born September 30, 1948 in Olean, he was the son of the late Edward G. Stayer and Dolores D. Bradley Stayer. On October 3, 1970 at St. Bonaventure Church in Allegany he married his high school sweetheart Marcia A. Kasperski who survives. Bill was a graduate of Archbishop Walsh High School and soon after, served with the US Navy Seabee's from 1968 to 1970 during the Vietnam War. After discharge, he began working for the former Work and Silvis Construction Co., then with his father at Edward Stayer and Son Construction. He worked for the Buffalo Slag Co. for a short while. In 1981 he started working for L.C. Whitford Co., Inc. as a project superintendent until his retirement in 2011. He was a member of St. Bonaventure Church, the Allegany American Legion Post #892, the Bath VFW, the Cuba AmVets Post #1, and was a 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus, Olean Assembly #721. He was an avid reader, hunter, enjoyed attending air shows, and found peace in simply feeding backyard animals and in observing nature. He was an especially passionate photographer where he liked taking spontaneous pictures of nature and was adept at photo-documenting just about every project worksite he was involved in. He will be sadly missed by his wife Marcia of 50 years; his 3 children Jennifer (David) Ursoy of Olean, James (Tammy) Stayer of Allegany and Julie Stayer of West Clarksville. Of huge importance to him was his love for his grandchildren Amber, Daniel and Elizabeth Stayer. He also leaves behind a sister Rebecca Amore of Friendship, a brother Stephen (Janice) Stayer of Arizona and many nieces and nephews. Friends will be received on Sunday from 2-6pm at the Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral Home, 3128 W. State Rd. Olean. A prayer service will be held Monday (March 8, 2021) at 9am in the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 9:30am at St. Bonaventure Church. Rev. James Vacco, OFM, pastor, will be the celebrant. Burial will be in St. Bonaventure Cemetery with full military honors being accorded by the Allegany American Legion Ritual Team. Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 (StJude.org) or to the Gary Sinise Foundation, PO Box 368, Woodland Hills, CA 91365 (garysinisefoundation.org). Online condolences may be expressed at oleanfuneralhome.com.