HAMPSTEAD — Billy Lessard is gone, but not forgotten.
The Salem native died in 1995 from complications from the AIDS virus. He was 27.
“He was very kind, outgoing, and treated everyone equally; he never judged anybody,” said Amy Morris, one of Lessard’s four sisters.
Lessard graduated from Salem High School, where he was a sports star who earned 11 varsity letters in track and in football. In 1990, he graduated from Keene State College with a bachelor’s degree in French and a minor in business management. At Keene State, he was president of his fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and a student trustee for the New Hampshire University System. He also spent a semester as an international exchange student at Le University Valenciennes in France.
After college, Lessard worked as a manager for the Marriot’s cleaning service that catered for the Jewish Memorial Hospital in Roxbury, Mass.
Lessard’s family and friends organized the William T. Lessard AIDS Foundation eight weeks after his death. The foundation raises funds for local organizations that care for AIDS patients.