Obituary of William John Edwards
COPAKE LAKE –
William John Edwards, 93, of Copake Lake, formerly of Hudson, passed away at the Shaker Place Rehabilitation & Nursing Center on August 24, 2024.
Known as “Bill” to his family and friends, he was born on November 29, 1930 in Hudson to the late William and Jennie Edwards.
Throughout his lifetime, Bill has lived and resided across the nation and the world, including: Hudson NY, Phoenix AZ, Pittsfield MA, Aberdeen MD, Ft. Monmouth NJ, Huntsville AL, Oklahoma City OK, Thailand, Boise ID and finally, Copake Lake NY.
Bill graduated from Hudson High School in 1948 where he was a member of the Glee Club, A Cappella Choir, served on the Student Service Committee, Lettered and medaled in Football, Track and Field and Swimming. It is there that he became a dedicated lifetime swimmer, and at 93, he was still swimming laps at Taconic Hills High School, 5 days a week, up until this past October when he became ill.
He attended Phoenix College where he earned an Associate Art degree in 1950. He received his bachelor's in science, majoring in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University in 1969.
After serving in the National Guard of Arizona as an Ammunition Handler, Mr. Edwards formally joined the U.S. Army and was enlisted into active duty on October 1, 1951. He served in the Signal and US Ordinance Corp working in Radar and Guided Missile Technology. He rose to the rank of Corporal before transitioning to the Army Reserve. He received his honorable discharge on November 9, 1959.
Bill showed an early aptitude for all things technical. When he joined the military, he was assigned to Redstone Arsenal where he was trained in radar and guided missile technology. Finishing at the top of his class, he advanced quickly to instructor and spent his military career training others in this technology and then fabricating and maintaining the required test gear. After his active service, building on his military experience, he joined the Naval ordinance business of GE in Pittsfield Massachusetts where he quickly earned a position in a 4-year apprentice program. During this apprenticeship, in addition to excelling in the training, he also assisted engineers working as a machinist, as a draftsman, and in the lab as an engineering technician. He helped with the development of products ranging from large power distribution transformers to radar antennas, to torpedo guidance systems. He finished the apprenticeship at the top of his class and was awarded the honor of speaking for all the apprentices at the graduation in 1957. After his apprenticeship, he was transferred to GE in Phoenix where he worked on GE’s first family of electric computers. His early work focused on production engineering on a range of peripheral computer products including magnetic tape handlers, card handlers and sorters, bank check readers, and document handlers. It was during this time that he completed his mechanical engineering degree. As a mechanical engineer he began working on designs for GE computer peripherals including non-impact printers, hole punches and paper handlers. On the printer design he received his first patent for the design of a unique rotary cutter mechanism. He then transitioned to magnetic memory disks working on 5 ¼ inch and 8-inch electromechanical and magnetic memory disk products. In 1988, Bill started his own engineering consulting business and assisted in the design of products for check encoding, inkjet printing, optical character recognition, imaging, toner fusion, and disk airflow and filtration. During this time, he received both US and international patents on memory disk spacer and filter technologies. At the culmination of his career Bill traveled to Bangkok Thailand where he set up and opened a manufacturing facility for Hard Disk Drives for Seagate Technologies. He retired from his consulting business in 1994.
Bill collected everything from magazines, books, comics, bubblegum cards, and many other things. But his biggest passion was collecting trains beginning with his first set at age 6. It is a passion he maintained for his whole life, and he was delighted that his grandson Michael has taken the baton and will nurture and build upon his collection.
After retirement, Bill started to explore a long-held curiosity by tracing his roots back to the 1600s. In good engineering fashion he captured the results for all his family to see in a detailed genealogy chart measuring 3 feet by 11 feet.
He is survived by a cousin, Joseph Witko, three children and their spouses: Diane Johnson (Mark), Cathy Venzor, and David Edwards (Marcy). Four precious grandchildren: Michael Cameron Edwards, Jon Venzor, Leanne Smith and Diane Wilson. Also blessed with seven great grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.
In addition to his parents, Bill was predeceased by his beloved wife, Katherine J. Edwards, his brother, Jon Edwards and his sister, Jeanette Parlman.
When asked of his family, closest friends and neighbors, Bill has been described as stalwart, a man of integrity, and compassionate. He was an animal lover, a caring neighbor who enjoyed helping others, a mensch, and a philanthropist. He was always task oriented and extremely organized. He was a humble man that had a curiosity about anything and everything and led a remarkable life that thrived on learning, self-motivation, and independence.
Our family would like to thank the staff at Shaker Place & Nursing Center with special thanks to Shannon Testo, Head Nurse, Anne Ingram LPN, Asaiah Vidail CNA, and special hugs to Cladudicle Byrd who went through extraordinary measures to ensure Bill was comfortable. She and he developed a special bond such that the sound of her voice made him smile until the very end. We also want to thank The Community Hospice Organization with special thanks to Kimberly Daley, RN and Varsha Joseph, SW for their consistent and loving care, frequent communication and in helping us understand and emotionally navigate the process.
Cremation has taken place through the care of Simple Choices, Inc.
Interment with Military Honors will take place privately in the Gerald B.H. Solomon – Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville, New York.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the Edwards Family, online at: SimpleChoicesCremation.com
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