William Michael Stack, 69, of New Canaan, C.T., passed away on January 16, 2018 after living for many years with Parkinson’s Disease. He passed away at home with his loving children Liam and Caitlin and his friends Ama Akrasi and Marline Hyatt by his side.William, known as Bill, was born on September 20, 1948 in Yonkers, N.Y. to the late William Stack, of Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland and the late Mary Gecox Stack, who lived as a young child in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. Bill was raised in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, N.Y., with his older sister Maureen and his younger sister Patricia, in a joyful home filled with laughter, stories and songs. The family lived in an apartment across the hall from their close friends Sylvia and Milton Jacobson and one floor below Bill’s aunt, Ida Gecox.Bill was educated at Fordham Preparatory School, Fordham University and Fordham Law School. In 1975 he married Joanne Tunney, who also studied at Fordham Law School. They lived for a time in Locust Valley, N.Y., before settling in New Canaan in 1987.Bill enjoyed a legal career at West Publishing Company in Westbury, N.Y., before he devoted himself to raising his children, with the assistance of his mother Mary, after Joanne died of breast cancer in 1994. His love for and dedication to his children, who were each his pride and joy, was the North Star that guided him through all the remaining years of his life.Bill’s other great passions were history and politics, particularly those of Ireland, an interest nurtured by the stories of his parents. He was an advocate for the Northern Ireland Peace Process and a generous supporter of Sinn Fein as it negotiated the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that brought the country’s decades-long conflict to an end.In 1996, Bill established the annual William and Mary Stack Lecture in Irish History and Culture at Fairfield University, a program dedicated to his mother and father. The program hosted events by a range of Irish political and cultural figures, including Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach, or Prime Minister; the President of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams; the Irish Ambassador to the United States, Sean O'Huiginn; and John Bruton, the former Taoiseach and Ambassador of the European Union to the United States. Bill also served on the Trustees Advisory Council at Fairfield University from 1998-2006. Bill is survived by his devoted and loving children, Liam, of New York, N.Y., and Caitlin of New Canaan, C.T; his sister Maureen Diffley, her husband George and their children, Megan and Kara; and his sister Pat Stack and her children William, Brendan and Nora; his late wife's brother, Patrick Tunney and his wife, Marianne, and their daughters, Kirsten and Meredith; and his grandnieces Katie, Molly, and Bridget Reddy, Madeleine Fournier and Lily Stapleton.He is predeceased by his parents, William Stack and Mary Gecox Stack, and his wife, Joanne.The family will receive friends at Hoyt funeral Home, 199 Main St., New Canaan, CT on Friday, January 19, 2018 from 4pm to 8pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated at St. Aloysius Church in New Canaan, CT on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 1:30pm. Interment will follow at Lakeview Cemetery.