William Thomson Wetmore Jr.

AMENIA — William Thomson Wetmore Jr., of Amenia, died with his family by his side on Feb. 4, 2015, at Sharon Hospital at the age of 84. He was a novelist and the founder of the Cascade Mountain Winery and Restaurant in Amenia. Born in Boston in 1930 to Joan Deery and William Wetmore Sr., Bill, as he was known to most, spent much of his childhood in New York City, where his grandfather, Charles Delevan Wetmore of the architecture firm Warren and Wetmore, had worked with Whitney Warren to create magical buildings that he would be proud of for the rest of his life: Grand Central Station, the New York Yacht Club, the Ritz Carlton, to name a few. Although his mother was remarried to Palmer Dixon, on Broadway she was known as Joan Wetmore, a successful actress, and one of the many larger-than-life personalities that shaped him. Bill had many fond memories of times he spent as a young boy in and around the theater with his mother.He graduated from St. Mark’s School, joined the Marine Corps and then continued on to Harvard College, where he was captain of the Harvard crew team. Upon graduation in 1953, he took a reporting job at the Middletown Times Herald in Middletown, N.Y., at the city desk and then traveled in Europe, spending most of his time in Greece and Spain. He later was a freelance writer on assignment in Tahiti and Australia.While at Harvard, he met Margaret Finley Kiser (Radcliffe, class of 1954) on a blind date and they were married in December 1957 in Atlanta, Ga. They moved to Caracas, Venezuela, and arrived in the middle of the Revolution of 1958. In Caracas, he worked as an insurance broker, and they spent a great deal of time exploring the country and having adventures with his beloved Aunt Kathy Phelps and her family. In 1963, he and Margaret moved back to the U.S. with their two young sons to continue his writing career. They settled in Millbrook and then Amenia. While still working as a journalist, he published five novels with Little Brown and Company. After writing an article on New York state winemakers, he was inspired to plant a vineyard in 1972 with his family and founded Cascade Mountain in 1977, an award-winning Hudson Valley Winery and Restaurant, which he continued to run until the end of his life, with his daughter, Joan. An avid sailor and fisherman, he was also a whip for a good part of the 1960s and 1970s for the Sandanona Hare hounds in Millbrook, where most knew him as Willy.He was predeceased by his half brother, Jonathan Dixon. His favorite sports teams included the ones that featured any of his five grandchildren; he and Margaret were frequent spectators and fans of many youth sports. He was the beloved husband of Margaret Wetmore for 57 years; the father of Charles, Michael and Joan; grandfather to Margaret, Ellen and William Yahn and Finley and Eliza Wetmore; father-in-law to Leila Wetmore and Walter Yahn. His sense of humor, intelligence and quick wit will be dearly missed by family and friends. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Feb. 28 at St Peter’s Church, 692 Deep Hollow Road, Millbrook. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Amenia Fire and Rescue Squad, 36 Mechanic St., Amenia, NY 12501Arrangements are under the care of the Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon.