William L. Focht ’63

Bill died Jan. 11, 2025, after a long illness.

A native of Syracuse, N.Y., he came to Princeton from Garden City High School. The recipient of a Grumman Aircraft engineering scholarship, he majored in physics, ate at Terrace Club, and during summers worked for Grumman.

Bill earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of Pennsylvania. From 1964 to 1968 he was a graduate student research assistant with the university’s tandem accelerator low-energy nuclear physics group as well as a teaching associate and a private tutor in various fields of mathematics and physics.

In 1969, Bill taught physics at Sweet Briar College. He then switched fields, moving into life insurance with Genworth Financial at its customer service base in Lynchburg, Va., which became his hometown. For years he was assistant vice president at First Colony Life Insurance, which is owned by Genworth. He gave this review of his life to Class Notes in May 2021: “After earning my Ph.D. in physics from Penn, I briefly taught in college, which brought me to Virginia. Subsequently, transitioning to a career in marketing — before retiring — I frequently traveled the nation as an invited speaker, examining various financial issues and topics.

“Best of all, I am now engaged to Donna, with whom I share the joys of nature, travel, and great friendship.” Bill will be sorely missed by his fiancée, Donna.