A proud lifelong resident of Richmond, Va., Bill attended St. Christopher’s School, graduated from Lawrenceville, and followed his father, Eugene B. Sydnor Jr. ’39, and brother, Eugene B. Sydnor III ’68, to Princeton. He played rugby, was a member of Whig-Clio, and ate at Cottage. The Little Hall fire early in our senior year led to Bill and a group of classmates being moved to the Theobald Smith House on Route 1. The University made a fortuitous exception to its no-car rule so that the exiles could commute, and happily their route to campus frequently took them by the Kings Inn.
Following Princeton, Bill joined VISTA and became a tenant-union organizer in Kalamazoo, Mich. He was always fiercely loyal to his country and enlisted in the Army Medical Corps, serving in Vietnam at Long Binh Hospital. Later an award-winning writer and historian, Bill’s proudest achievement was writing and producing a nationally aired PBS documentary about the life of an extraordinary African American woman, Maggie Lena Walker.
Sadly, Bill suffered from Alzheimer’s for the last decade of his life. He is survived by his wife and love of his life, Wendy, and two brothers. Bill also leaves a host of Princeton and Richmond friends. He will be remembered especially for the notable Christmas and July Fourth parties that he and Wendy hosted at Dancing Point, his family’s home.