William Richard Smith, 78, of The Villages, FL, passed from this life Sunday, December 30, 2018 from complications of Alzheimer’s. Born in Philadelphia, PA he was the son of the late William J. and Mary (Livsey) Smith.
Bill was a graduate of Drexel University with a BS in electrical engineering and also had a master’s in computer science. He was employed by IBM of East Fishkill, NY for 31 years, where he received several awards for his time-saving designs, including robotics.
Following retirement, Bill enjoyed being a handyman and could build or repair almost anything. Bill was an avid reader, and wrote many poems, most of them for children. He and his wife Dottie met on a week-long group hiking trip in the White Mountains of NH in 2001. Bill was a longtime member of several hiking clubs in NY and NH and the Villages Hiking Club. Besides hiking, Bill and Dottie enjoyed XC skiing, biking, canoeing and worldwide travel. Bill was the epitome of strength and perseverance until the end.
Beside his parents he was predeceased by his first wife, the mother of his children, Lois Anne (Hecht) Smith in 1997. William is survived by his beloved wife Dorothy Dumont Halligan; his children, Cathy Smith and husband Matt Newman of Boulder, CO; Bill Smith and wife Sarah of Belleville, IL; Nancy Smith, of Albany, NY; Janet Johnson and husband Steven of Poughkeepsie, NY; sisters; Rosemary Back of Huntington Valley, PA; Kathy Wester of Coatesville, PA; Jean Follis and husband Barry of Coatesville, PA. He is also survived by grandchildren, David and Lizzy Newman and Daniel and Amanda Johnson.
Services will be held at a later date in Poughkeepsie, NY.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in William’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (st.jude.org).
