William F. ‘Bill’ Eggert of Hampton Bays Dies October 16

William F. “Bill” Eggert died at his home in Hampton Bays on October 16, after a brief illness. He was 73.

He was born in New York City on May 10, 1950, to the late Frederick W. and Doris (Higgins) Eggert. He grew up in the Bronx and graduated from Fordham Preparatory School, Le Moyne College in Syracuse and Fordham School of Law.

He served in the United States Naval Reserve, and was assigned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. His family said that he joked about how ill-suited he was to the Navy, as he was often seasick by the time his ship neared the Statue of Liberty. Mercifully, he was promoted to the Judge Advocate General Corps in onshore Newport, Rhode Isalnd, once he obtained his law degree.

After law school, he worked for several years as an assistant district attorney for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. He eventually moved to Colorado, where he became partner at the Denver law firm of Hall and Evans.

While in Colorado, he became involved in Republican politics and in 1994 ran for the U.S. Congress, losing to U.S. Representative Patricia Schroeder. His family said that after the election, Schroeder complimented him for running a clean, issues-oriented campaign.

He returned to the East Coast and settled in Hampton Bays about 10 years ago.

In his youth, he spent summers in the Maidstone Park section of Springs, where he learned to get along with others by living in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage with two adults and five siblings. In their early teens, he and his brother Jack would hitchhike to and from the Maidstone Club, where they caddied for tips. Later, he worked at the A&P on Newtown Lane, back when male employees wore white shirts and ties.

When he was young, he loved to sing, his family said. As the eldest child, he frequently took care of his youngest brother and sisters, and would sing to them as he changed their diapers, or fed them their bottles.

He faced the difficulties in his life with a quiet grace and dignity, his family said. He was a kind and gentle man — less so when he perceived an injustice — who enjoyed visiting libraries, golf, reading books about politics and history, walks in the Quogue Wildlife Refuge and swimming in the bay and ocean, they said. He was honest to an at times hard-to-take fault, they added.

He is survived by his brother John (Jack) and his wife Jill Erickson of Orient and Punta Gorda, Florida; sisters Mary of Weymouth, Massachusetts, Anne and Elizabeth Talmage and her husband Richard, and his brother Christopher, all of East Hampton; along with nieces Tess Talmage, Ruby Talmage and Ella Eggert; and nephew Brody Eggert.

A private graveside service was held at Most Holy Trinity cemetery, where he was buried with his parents.