Bill, or “Mother” as he was fondly called by close college chums because of his protective nature, died after a valiant struggle with Parkinson’s disease March 8, 2014, in Santa Cruz, Calif.
The son of Chester C. ’25, Bill was born in Mexico City and entered from St. Christopher’s School. Before classes began in 1950, he and his roommates, including Joe Carragher, Gerry Sibley, and Willie Smith, were unpacking in their Holder Hall suite and threw unneeded furniture from their window into the courtyard as a prank. Other students did the same thing; then someone lighted the pile and joked that the Big Three football victory bonfire had begun several months early. Dean F.R.B. Godolphin ’24 thought differently.
He left us after sophomore year to enlist in the Army and received three bronze stars during the Korean conflict.
Bill met his wife, Laura, at UC, Santa Cruz and dedicated his life to a career in language, teaching, cultural understanding, and human rights. He inspired disadvantaged youth to seek higher education, several of whom later attended Princeton.
Surviving besides Laura are his children, Sarah Kattungal, Lucy Donovan, and Andrew. They wrote that Bill was “the embodiment of compassion and grace, who devoted himself to family and the many friends with whom he shared a passion for intellectual dialogue and adventure.”