William D. Hocker ’47

Bill died July 16, 1995, in Summit, N.J., after a brief illness. He entered Princeton in the summer of 1943 but soon left for military duty in WWII. Serving as an infantryman in Europe, he was wounded twice in battle and received the Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster.

Back at Princeton after the war, he roomed with Don Atkin, Ken Beattie, and J. P. Ross and joined Colonial Club. He majored in psychology and took his degree in 1949. After graduation Bill went into television, which was still in its infancy. He filmed commercials, produced programs for CBS, and made documentaries in Europe. He was production manager on the second feature film shot in Cinerama. He then worked for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, assisting its client Eastman-Kodak with television programming. Bill remained with the agency as an account executive until 1967, when he moved to Maine, eventually settling in Northeast Harbor.

In Maine, Bill began a new career: importing and dealing in antiques. He painted miniature landscapes and became a professional photographer. His marriage in 1965 to Jill Sherwin ended in divorce, but Bill remained close to his stepsons, Carl H. White III, Bruce Murray White, and Schuyler Randall White. To them and to his sister, Jane Hocker Daly, the class extends its profound sympathy.

The Class of 1947