William “Bill” Moy passed away on May 25, 2020 at the age of 86. Born and raised in Boston, Bill is remembered for his important contributions and advocacy for the Chinatown community.
After retiring, he founded Moy Associates, Inc. to continue being involved in the civil engineering industry, consulting on engineering work and projects. As a retiree, he utilized his skills and experience in protecting the best interests of the Chinatown community. Bill was one of the many influential community in Chinatown development and land use. He led and participated in several organizations, namely the Chinatown Neighborhood Council, the Chinatown Community Trust Fund, and perhaps his favorite group, the Wang YMCA.
For about 60 years of his life, he was involved with the YMCA. Bill filled many roles since his youth – as team basketball coach, program advocate, special events coordinator to a major gifts fundraiser, and branch board member.
Bill was also the Chairman of the Board of Advisors to the YMCA. In 2000, he lead the YMCA, at the time known as the South Cove YMCA, in redeveloping the former Boston Technical High School into the YMCA and the Hilton hotel into what is today the 42,000 square foot Wang YMCA.
He was proud of his work at the YMCA. He would often wear a baseball cap or windbreaker with the “Wang YMCA” logo on it. As a dedicated member of the Wang YMCA, Bill launched the annual Wang YMCA Christmas party and hosted it with his sisters and friends, servicing more than 700 youth. He was particularly fond of mentoring and fostering the development of youth.
Always thinking about the community, Bill worked to protect the community’s land use interests. He was very savvy in negotiating with the city of Boston and the developers who built around Chinatown over the last 30 years. According to his friends and coworkers, Bill could locate pressure points quickly in a negotiation. He knew how to force a common solution among diverse interests. He was a good advocate for the community and one of the key contributors in moving the community forward.
As part of the Chinatown Trust Fund, which has given almost three million dollars in grants and awards locally, Bill, along with other community members, insisted that funds get dedicated back to neighborhood agencies and communities. Bill was also a longtime lead moderator of the Chinatown Neighborhood Council as a leading voice and liaison with local city agencies, planners, and established businesses.
Those who worked with him saw Bill as a selfless leader whose interests were always about helping others and making sure community was taken care of. He was of a strong character that brought people together. He could mingle with any group – from the CEOs of large investment banks and major companies to the neighborhood community residents living in the towers of TaiTung village.
Bill was a strong and resilient man. When he had surgery on his back, he had to re-learn how to walk again in his 80s. He was determined to learn to walk again, as he could not be kept down. Even after stepping down from his roles he still attended every meeting as Chairman emeritus. Bill was able to let someone else lead the meetings and simply cared about being there for the meetings.
Many of those in Chinatown and Boston miss and love him. His selflessness and relentless commitment to the people and residents of Chinatown is remembered and honored. Due to COVID-19, his family conducted a private burial on May 28 in Forest Hills Cemetery.
Edit (9/21): Bill’s Company was known as WM Group, Inc. and the Redevelopment Property for the Wang YMCA. The Hilton was not Boston Technical High School (of which Bill Moy was a graduate) but the property was the Don Bosco Technical High School.
