William J. Hauck ’48

Bill died Sept. 25, 2022, in Redding, Conn. He was 98.

After graduating from Richmond Hill High School in Queens, N.Y. Bill moved with his family to Seward, Alaska, and spent his first two years of college at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Beginning in 1943, he served in the Army Air Force and was stationed at Ladd Field Air Base until the end of the war.

Following his discharge, Bill came to Princeton. He majored in civil engineering, graduated summa cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. “Princeton was the answer to a childhood dream,” he wrote in the Class of 1948 50th-reunion book. “My admission as a transfer student in 1946 still amazes me.”

After graduation, Bill began work for Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. (later Grumman Aerospace Corp.). During his 41 years there, his design and engineering achievements included work on the F9F Cougar, the E-2 Hawkeye, and the F-14 Tomcat. Bill felt his greatest achievement was his 10 years with the Appolo Lunar Module program, especially the time he spent in the mission support room during the Apollo missions.

In 1952, Bill married Ingrid M. Hellmers but she died of a pulmonary embolism in 1954. They had a son, Neil Tod Hauck ’76, who also graduated from Princeton’s School of Engineering. In 1981, Bill married Audrey G. Baillard; they remained married for 25 years, until her death.

Bill is survived by his son, three stepchildren, two grandchildren, and his sister, Marilyn J. Hauck. The Class of  ’48 sends its sympathies on the passing of our loyal classmate.