William W. Powell ’59

We lost Bill Oct. 24, 2013.

President of his Amherst High School class in Buffalo, N.Y., Bill majored in politics at Princeton. He served on the Freshman Council, played soccer, and was a Bric-a-Brac editor. He dined at Cannon Club and was senior manager of Esquire Sales. He graduated magna cum laude.

Bill moved quickly into business or, as he said, “the world of soap,” working in the north woods of Canada in the international-sales department of the Colgate-Palmolive Co. A London tour followed six months with the Army. His brief defection to the advertising world was followed by a return to Colgate, a few years in New York City, and some time in London and Milan. He then moved to Boston as president of Colgate-acquired Kendall Co. In 1981 he was named an executive vice president, and in 1983, became executive vice president and chief development officer with worldwide responsibilities.

Following his retirement in 1986, Bill moved to a villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France, where he graciously hosted the few fortunate classmates who found their way to his doorstep. Divorced from his first wife, Bill married Joanne Paladino in 1997, and lived variously in France, Palm Beach, New York City, the Berkshires, and Santa Fe. He is survived by Joanne, to whom we have sent condolences.