Bill, who had a very distinguished legal career, died peacefully at home March 17, 2012, after a brief illness. After graduating from St. George’s School in Newport, R.I., in 1943 he entered Princeton, but his education was interrupted by the war. He served 2 1/2 years in the Army, principally in a machine-gun platoon that participated in three campaigns in Western Europe.
In 1949, Bill received his Princeton diploma from the Woodrow Wilson School and then entered Columbia Law School, from which he graduated in 1952. He joined the law firm of Vinson & Elkins in Houston, Texas, upon his graduation from Columbia. At that firm he founded the corporate- and securities-law section and for many years was on the firm’s management committee. He was a director of numerous corporations, including Rowan Companies Inc. and Fairmont Foods Co.
After retiring in 1992 from Vinson & Elkins he lived the rest of his life with his wife, Kathryn, at their cherished Harmony Farm in Millican, Texas. He is survived by Kathryn; two sons from his first marriage, William Fleming and his wife, Norma, and Alexander; stepdaughter Robin Woodworth and her husband, John; his sister, the Rev. Julie Nelson; and seven grandchildren. To them all, the class extends deepest sympathy.