Necrology

William Dirolf '42

Apr. 21, 1921-Dec. 28, 2005

William Eustace Dirolf ’42, a retired New York State tax supervisor, was born on April 21, 1921, to William H., an accountant and office manager, and Flossy McLaughlin Dirolf, in North Creek, NY. Bill Dirolf grew up in that Adirondack village, where he was graduated as valedictorian from North Creek High School in 1938. Enthusiastically recommended by its principal as “outstanding in every respect,” he was admitted to Hamilton that year. He joined Tau Kappa Epsilon and the Newman Club, and, with his clarinet, became a stalwart member of the College Band and its president in his senior year. Elected to Quadrangle, he also served as manager of the soccer team and president of the TKE house, and sat on the Musical Arts Society’s executive board. He was awarded his A.B. degree with honors in economics in 1942.

Three months later, while attending the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he took courses in industrial administration, Bill Dirolf enlisted in the U.S. Army. Called to active duty in the spring of 1943, in the midst of World War II, he was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (the wartime predecessor of the CIA) and became part of the OSS detachment with the Ninth Army in Europe. There he worked with resistance forces in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Years later, he recalled those days from Normandy to the Elbe as “the greatest experience of my life.”

Bill Dirolf, the recipient of three battle stars, left the Army as a staff sergeant after the war’s end in 1945 and returned to his hometown to find employment with A&B Oil Co. as an accountant. Subsequently employed in a similar capacity locally by National Lead Co. and Barton Mines Corp., he left the private sector in 1955 to become a tax auditor for the New York State Department of Labor. After 11 years in the Utica area, where he was tax auditor for the division of unemployment insurance, he was promoted to senior unemployment tax auditor and transferred to Malone. Responsible for field audits and collection activities for four northern New York counties, he remained in Malone for 20 years until his retirement as assistant district superintendent for field tax services in 1986.

While residing in Malone, Bill Dirolf became active in the community. He was elected to Malone Central School’s board of education and served as secretary-treasurer of the local Boy Scout troop. He was also active in numerous community organizations and sang bass in the choir of St. Joseph’s Church as well as the North Franklin Ecumenical Choir.

A lifelong sports fan and an avid reader with a special interest in books on World War II history, Bill Dirolf also enjoyed long walks, cross-country skiing, and listening to his collection of Big Band recordings of the ’30s and ’40s. With his wife, the former Elizabeth Carol Fitzgerald, whom he had wed on July 26, 1947, in North Creek, he took pleasure in his growing family.

In 2001, the Dirolfs moved from Malone to Plattsburgh, NY. There, on December 28, 2005, William E. Dirolf, a loyal and ever supportive alumnus, died. In addition to his wife of 58 years, he is survived by four daughters, Elizabeth A. Krell, Mary P. and Margaret R. Dirolf, and Kathryn Dirolf Frascella ’82, wife of Joseph Frascella ’80; two sons, Paul M. and John F. Dirolf ’81; and nine grandchildren and a sister.

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