Necrology

William Frederick Penfield '56

Mar. 25, 1934-Jul. 4, 2023

William Frederick Penfield ’56 died on July 4, 2023, in Hartfield, Va., just east of Richmond. Born on March 25, 1934, in Orange, N.J., he came to Hamilton from the Hill School. On the Hill, he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity and majored in political science and economics. 

Although he was a member of the football team in his first two years, lacrosse was Bill’s principal sport and he played it all four years. He was a member of the Block “H” Club as both a sophomore and as a junior. He also played an active role in the Campus Fund throughout his college career and joined the Chapel Congregation as a freshman. In addition, he was in the International Relations Club during his first two years and the Economics Club for his sophomore and junior years.

While still at Hamilton, Bill met Sara Jean Hoople, a student in the School of Architecture in the College of Fine Arts of Syracuse University. After graduating, he joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Key West, Fla. Following her graduation, Sara moved to Miami and got a job with Sears, Roebuck & Co. They became engaged in 1957 and were married on Nov. 23, 1958, in Syracuse. They had one daughter and three sons.

From active duty as a lieutenant commander and commanding officer of the frigate U.S.S. Milledgeville, Bill transferred to the Naval Reserves in 1961. He retired in 1976 with the rank of commander. His last assignment was as the commanding officer of the minesweeper Prowess, a training vessel stationed in Buffalo, N.Y.

Concurrent with his duties in the Reserve, Bill began to prepare for the second of what would eventually be three careers. Following the advice of Dean Winton Tolles, he enrolled in Fairleigh-Dickinson University’s M.B.A. program. His interest was in industrial relations, specifically in marketing, and between August 1959 and October 1961, he worked for the American Can Co.

Earning his Master of Business Administration in 1963, Bill took a position as sales representative for the International Pipe & Ceramics Corp. in East Orange, N.J., after which he again worked briefly for the American Can Co. In 1967, he and his family moved to East Aurora, N.Y., when he was named marketing supervisor at the Tonawanda headquarters of Spaulding Fibre Co. By the end of 1970, he had moved on to American Precision Instruments Industries as marketing manager.

After a short period of time in Allentown, Pa., Bill and the family left the East when, in the summer of 1971, he became vice president for marketing for the U.S. Silica Co. in Ottawa, Ill. He retired from that position in 1990, at which point he changed course yet again. 

Bill and his family left Ottawa for Cross Junction, Va., so he could pursue a master’s degree in counseling psychology. In 1993, he began working with young people in the area of Winchester, Va., who had run afoul of the law. As he described his work in his 40th reunion yearbook: “I am working on a program to ‘habilitate’ youths. I use the term ‘habilitate’ instead of ‘rehabilitate’ because most of these kids never experienced positive parenting. In addition to individual and group counseling in which we work on self-esteem and coping skills, I incorporate participative sports. We have also gone back to basic education including reading, arithmetic, and writing skills.” He also observed that, though he was still fairly new to counseling, “so far this has been far more rewarding than the past 35 years in corporate America.”

Bill also volunteered to be a member of Virginia Search & Rescue, having built a kayak for use in this effort. When he and Sally moved to Hartfield, Va., he expanded the range of his service to include recovering dead bodies, aided immeasurably by dogs trained to search for cadavers. He worked closely with the Red Cross. By 2012, he had given up search-and-rescue work to volunteer for the Red Cross in disaster assistance, most frequently in hurricanes and fires. He earned certification as a First Responder (EMR or Emergency Medical Response) and later as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). 

Bill’s record of community service had extended back to Ottawa, where he was a member and one-time president of the local Chamber of Commerce, the Ottawa Boosters, and as secretary for the Police and Fire Commission of the city. He supported Hamilton as an Alumni Association officer and class agent as well as a class committee and reunion gift committee member. 

Hamilton meant a great deal to Bill. In his 40th reunion yearbook, he noted: “The Honor System is still very much part of my value system. Having to write a grammatically correct paper for English, including spelling, helped me in two master’s programs as well as business. … I look back on Hamilton more than any other college or university I attended as my bedrock of learning. To me Hamilton was the quintessential liberal arts college which continues to challenge me to learn more.”

Sadly, Bill was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2015 and was slowly overtaken by it.

William F. Penfield was predeceased by his wife and is survived by four children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

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