Rhinebeck, NY

William A. Krupa, affectionately known as "Bill" or "Willy", 86 of Rhinebeck died peacefully on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY, with his son Stephen at his bedside.

Born May 18, 1936, in West Natrona, PA, he was the son of European immigrants Joseph F. Krupa (Hungary) and Emilia "Emily" Wenglorz (Czechoslovakia). Willy was the middle of seven children (Walter "Buby" Krupa, Frederick Krupa, Ernest Krupa, William Krupa, Joseph Krupa Jr., Elizabeth "Betty" Bast, and Mary Ann Coco).

Willy often told stories of his childhood in "Ducktown", from building the yellow brick house with his father and brothers, working in the steel mill scrap yard collecting slag to sneaking out the top window of the house to go visit his friends, brothers Bernie and Norbie Naworski.

Willy graduated from Har-Brack High School, where shortly thereafter he enlisted in the Navy. He was a Sonarman on DD-657 USS Charles J. Badger a Fletcher-class destroyer and USS Thomas J. Gary DER-326 an Edsall-class destroyer from 1954 to 1958. The Navy is most certainly where Willy developed his love of being on the water.

After his time in the Navy, back in Ducktown, it was time to head West, hitchhiking to California. Willy attended San Jose St. and earned a degree in business and according to him, minored in golf.

Willy's first marriage was to Mace Taylor. Willy and Mace had a son, Stephen L. Krupa (North Carolina).

Willy was putting his business degree to work as he began his career in the Financial Industry as a stockbroker. Willy's second marriage was to Mary Lynn Slater, in Downey, CA in 1972. Willy and Mary had two sons, Joseph W. Krupa (Hedgesville, WV) and James G. Krupa (Sugar Land, TX).

Willy loved the stock market and used to say he "never worked a day in his life." He would talk about his trips to London and Switzerland where he helped open international offices for the firm.

In 1975, an opportunity presented itself in Chicago, IL to work on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), eventually starting his own brokerage firm, W.A.K. Inc. It was during his years in Chicago that Willy earned an appreciation for city life, dining at the best restaurants, taking in sporting events, museums, and theater arts. Willy was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and enjoyed watching Monday Night Football with his sons after a long day on the trading floor.

In 1981, Willy moved the family out of the Chicago suburbs to Long Beach, Indiana. Commuting into Chicago each day which typically entailed catching the 4:30a.m. South Shore Line train and not getting back home until after 6:00p.m.

Willy never complained about this commute and in fact it was well known that he would take an extra cup of coffee to the ticket collector in the morning who would open up an empty train car in the back where the lights would be off and he could grab some shuteye for the hour long ride to the Van Buren St. station where he would walk to the exchange to start his day.

One of Willy's favorite restaurants was The Italian Village, where guys from the floor would grab lunch, and maybe a beer before heading back until the markets closed. Willy was such a regular and well-liked customer that he became close friends with many of the staff, including Vince and Andre. If you ever dined at "The Village" and mentioned Bill Krupa's name, you were certain to receive V.I.P. treatment. It was a special treat when Willy would bring home a pizza from the Village for dinner.

Willy loved to cook and entertain. It was not uncommon for he and Mary to host dinner parties for their friends where he would prepare a Caesar salad with dressing made from scratch, Chicken Vesuvio a classic Chicago dish with a nice glass of wine, followed up with flaming bananas foster for dessert.

After his wife Mary succumbed to her battle with cancer in 1988, Willy was left to raise his two youngest sons on his own.

After retiring from the stock market, Willy started the last chapters of his life acting on a dare from a friend and decided to take a job as a dance host on a cruise line. For the next 20+ years Willy cruised the world living out some of his best years. An added benefit was meeting so many interesting people, with one friend arranging badges to the Masters golf tournament where he was in attendance for Tiger Woods' historic victory in 1997.

It was during his time as a cruise host that he met Patricia Myers, a retired teacher from Rhinebeck, NY. Willy and Patricia were married and cruised the world, literally. At any one time you might receive an email from Willy saying they were passing through the Panama Canal, rounding Cape Horn in South Africa, watching penguins in Antarctica, or visiting his sister and brother-in-law Betty and Ted Bast and his brother Joe in St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands.

To know Willy was to know a friend. Salud, Ciao Baby!

Willy is survived by Patricia Myers, sisters Elizabeth "Betty" Bast and Mary Ann Coco, brother Joseph Krupa Jr., son Stephen Krupa and wife Kitty, son Joseph Krupa and wife Christina, grandchildren Alexis, Markus, Nevaeh and Mary, great grandson Tyonne and son James Krupa wife Aaron, grandchildren Vivian and Mary Kate.