William “Bill” Edmund Faranda, Jr. | February 27th, 1953 - February 24th, 2025
William “Bill” Edmund Faranda, Jr., was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on February 27th, 1953, to loving parents, William E. Faranda, Sr. & Domenica Faranda (Allia). Bill lived a long and distinguished life, with the simplest every-day pleasures bringing him great joy prior to his passing at the age of 71 on February 24th, 2025.
Bill was a record-breaking track star for Waltham High School before moving on to attend the college formerly known as the University of Lowell, where he developed a passion for science and chemistry. It was also during this time he was a proud member of his fraternity, ??F, where he was affectionately known as “Wolf Man Faranda” because of his ever-growing hair at the time. Although typically a private man overall, he would never be shy to share his favorite stories from this period of his life - no matter how many times he talked about his hike up the campus water tower, it always put the biggest smile on his face.
After his education, Bill had an illustrious career in the medical field. Beginning in research and working hands-on with patients, he soon moved on to working in sales for various biotech companies, most notably Baxter, Genzyme, and Sekisui Diagnostics. Throughout his 30+ years of working with these organizations (most recently Sekisui, where he was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development), he travelled across the world and played a massive role in ensuring their success in making advancements in saving lives across the world, as well as helping enhance the careers of those around him at every turn.
Bill was also someone who would be falling asleep reading the standard obituary - he would have much preferred to focus on the things that made life worth it for him. One of those things was his deep love for wildlife. When he was growing up, he earned the nickname “Nature Boy” - if you ever couldn’t find him, he was probably off searching under rocks for salamanders, trying to catch a squirrel, getting lost in the woods, or taking care of horses (which he conveniently ignored his allergy to so he could be with them). He had many dogs throughout his life, along with some cats and other pets, and cared for them all extremely deeply. His enchantment with nature and animals eventually evolved into an obsession with scuba diving, where he had more than his fair share of close encounters with some beautiful sea life, along with plenty of sharks and jellyfish along the way. That same obsession with the water carried over into a love of boating and fishing, where nothing brought him more peace than the harbor and oceans of Wells, Maine.
Nature aside, Bill always laughed at the goofiest humor, whether that be something out of the Three Stooges or what would be best described as the stereotypical dad-joke. He made sure to spread that same humor as much as he could, over and over again. In the moment, it was easy to get tired of hearing the same stories and jokes; looking back, all they bring is pure joy.
In the later stages of his life, there was nothing he was more dedicated to than being the best father possible to his son, Billy. With Billy being an only child, Bill always made sure he was taken care of in every sense possible. The definition of this changed all throughout Billy’s life, ranging from getting on the floor to play with his toys (while making the silliest voices), playing catch in the backyard, letting Billy win in races until he actually could beat him eventually, playing games together for hours on end that Bill otherwise would never have any interest in touching, never missing a single one of his sporting events, igniting his love of animals and the ocean, making sure Billy got the best education and health care at every turn, being the person Billy could go to for any question in his adult life for a sometimes stern but always helpful solution, and so much more.
Bill is preceded in death by his parents, William and Domenica. His memory will continue to live on and be cherished with his spouse: Robynn Faranda, brother: Larry Faranda, and his son: Billy Faranda, along with the countless lives he’s influenced throughout his lifelong journey.
A memorial visitation will be held in Bill’s memory on Friday, March 7th from 5 PM - 8 PM at Farmer & Dee Funeral Home in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. All are welcome and encouraged to stop by and pay their respects.
Donations honoring Bill’s memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (www.stjude.org) or to the charity organization of your choosing. Flowers are not necessary but still appreciated, as they will be donated to the Power of Flowers Project (https://pofproject.org/) where they will be repurposed into bouquets and delivered to local hospitals and care homes.