William-Caswell-Obituary

William E. Caswell

Silver Spring, Maryland

About

LOCATION
Silver Spring, Maryland

Obituary

Send Flowers

William E. Caswell was a third-generation physicist whose work at the Navy was so classified that his family knew very little about what he did each day.

They don't even know exactly why he was headed to Los Angeles on the doomed American Airlines Flight 77.

"It was a trip he often took," his mother, Jean Caswell, said Friday. "We never knew what he was doing there because he couldn't say. You just learn not to ask questions."

It was an unusual feature of life in their family, which Caswell's parents described as very warm and close-knit. The Boston-born Caswell, 54, was very close to his wife, also named Jean, and to her son from a previous marriage, Sean O'Connor.

And nothing mattered more to him than the education of his 17-year-old daughter, Jennifer, a senior at a Silver Spring, Md., magnet high school with a specialty in science. Together, the two had been looking into colleges for her.

Guest Book

Not sure what to say?

I am late this year in remember Bill. But 9-11 will never be forgotten. Yes he could not talk about his work but I assure you it was important to our national defense.

rest in power william.

He was a good man. Didnt deserve to die this way.

Remembering William on the 20th anniversary of 9/11....

Im sorry you left this earth too soon. Be at peace...

Another year has passed and I still regret the lost of Bill and the contributions Bill would have given us.

Thinking of Julie all day today, as I have every year - and as I will.

I lived across the street from the Caswells. I remember seeing William every day when he came out to get the mail. He had the most amazing smile. I always meant to say something to him, but somehow the opportunity never came. Now it never will. More than a decade has passed and I still remember his tousled hair, his rumpled untucked shirt, and his smile. 911 took something away from all of us, things that can never be replaced.

We'll never forget that day, and I pause today to pray for and think of the friends and family that William left behind. Much love from Texas.