William Bomster
Stonington — William I. Bomster, 85, of Stonington, passed away Monday, Jan. 14, 2019.
Born was born March 23, 1933, in New Haven to the late Cyril I. and Helen (O’Meara) Bomster. Bill grew up in Branford, raised children in Clinton, then moved to Stonington in 1984, but more recently, was a resident of StoneRidge in Mystic.
Bill attended Branford schools. He quit school to trap vermin for furs and to work for the New Haven Railroad. He worked for the Long Island Oyster Farms in New Haven then started fishing commercially on the “Lucky Lady” out of New Haven. He went out on the “Little Chief” with Jimmy Henry out of Stonington. Later he worked for the union out of New Bedford, Mass., aboard the “Martha Murley,” “Little Growler,” “Aloha,” “Zebet,” “Zebu” and “Zulu.” Bill and his late wife Venna, created Stonington Fish & Lobster, Inc. A patriarch of the Bomster scallop fishing family, owned fishing boats the “Karen and Nancy,” “Debbie Jo,” “Dutchess,” “Billy Joe,” “Michael Jo,” “Patty Jo,” “Malayna Christine” and the “Stonington Jo.”
He developed a salt brine method of freezing scallops with the “Zebu” operated out of the New London docks and sold fried scallops off of the boat while in port in the 1970s. In 1988 he had the “Patty Jo” built in Bayou La Batre, Ala. She was equipped with a plate freezing system and the latest technology of the day and started Stonington Seafood Harvesters in the 1990s, which markets unprocessed frozen scallops to numerous restaurants, grocery stores and seafood markets all along the shoreline and out of state.
He was very gracious to the community of Stonington from sponsoring a Bulgarian family to donating the entry door of the Portugese Holy Ghost Club.
Bill was an avid reader and was involved in military vehicle restoration, and most of all he loved sports cars and his dog.
He was a longtime member of the Southern New England Fishermen’s and Lobstermen’s Association and the Groton Sportsmen’s Club.
Bill was predeceased by his first wife, Patricia (Pompane) Bomster (1974), a daughter, Deborah (2000) and his second wife, Venna Jo (Andrews) Bomster (2009) and his brother John F. Bomster (2012).
He is survived by his three sons, William J. Bomster and his wife, Malayna, of North Stonington, Joseph M. Bomster of Stonington and Michael P. Bomster of Voluntown, his daughter, Nancy White and her husband, Richard, of Franklin, and his stepdaughter, Karen Sapia and her husband, Paul, of Uncasville; a brother, David Bomster and his wife, Carol, of North Stonington; nine grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
His family will receive relatives and friends from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21 at the Mystic Funeral Home on Route 1 in Mystic, CT. A mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at St. Mary’s Church in Stonington. Following his mass, he will be buried at the Stonington Cemetery on North Main St. in Stonington.