William
(“Bill,” “Shank”) Cruikshank Jr. died on April 24, 2025. He
was the son of Esther Gurney Cruikshank and William Cruikshank. He
grew up in Garden City, N.Y., and graduated from Phillips Academy and
Brown University. After Brown, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps
Officer Candidates School and served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1966.
After being honorably discharged, he moved to Killington, Vt., and
worked at various jobs. He then moved to northern Vermont, eventually
settling in Burlington, where he owned numerous rental properties.
Over the past 20 years, he resided in Poultney, Vt., and owned rental
properties in West Pawlet, Poultney and Stratton, Vt., and Whitehall,
N.Y. All of these properties he upgraded, remodeled and eventually
sold, sometimes even at a profit.
Bill
was a true Renaissance man. He taught himself to build houses,
including plumbing, electric and all other aspects of construction.
He loved acting with numerous local theater groups. He could recite
by heart Shakespeare’s soliloquies, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The
Tell-Tale Heart” and, of course, the Carnation Milk jingle that our
mom taught us all. He grew a huge vegetable garden and baked his
signature no-knead rolls, which came to every family and community
event. He was a fabulous guitar player. He played everything from
1950s rock and roll to classical Spanish pieces. His rendition of
“I’m a Hog For You Baby” always brought the house down. He
loved sunset sails on Lake Bomoseen, perhaps with a Double Bag on
board. His jokes were legendary, and he had a knock-knock joke for
every occasion.
Bill
lived life to its fullest, daily and joyously, even over the last 22
years while dealing with Agent Orange-induced lymphoma, a gift from
his tour in Vietnam. He loved our weekly lunches with our mom until
she “went up” at the age of 106. We, the four siblings, continued
the tradition of weekly lunches until three weeks ago, when Bill did
not join us. Bill was predeceased by our parents, Essie and Bill
Cruikshank. He is survived by his three sisters, Essie Cantus, Nancy
Rowe and Robin Chandler; three children, Rachel Garnett, Darshon
Wolters and George Wolters; five grandchildren, Mesa, Bodie, Lila,
Cybelle and Finn; nieces and nephews, Bill, Laurie, Wendy, Jenn, Dan,
Willy and Alice; great-nieces and -nephews, Clare, Emma, Elizabeth,
Ben, Matthew, Lillian, Cooper, Essie, Annie and Ruby; and cousins,
Susie, Tim, Bob and Al.
He
loved walking this Earth with his dear friends from various places
and all walks of life. He will be sorely missed by all, but he was
ready to go and went peacefully. Fly high and free, dear Bill…
There
will be no services. A gathering will be held at a later date. In
lieu of flowers, please donate to a favorite charity of your choice.
We would like to thank Rutland Regional Medical Center and all Bill’s
nurses, doctors and staff for the kind and wonderful care he was
given. A special thanks goes to Dr. Eisemann and the Foley Cancer
Center.