William G. Elliott

SHUTESBURY - William G. Elliott, Ph.D, 82, of Shutesbury, formerly of Lincoln, passed away unexpectedly Monday, March 24, 2014.

Originally from Birmingham, Mich., he was the son of Wilbur H. and Mary (Sithes) Elliott.

In the 1950's and early 60s Bill earned two degrees in electrical engineering at the University of Michigan and continued his graduate studies at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University. His fields of study included large-scale systems engineering, optical pattern recognition, planetary atmospheres, and digital image processing. He ultimately earned a doctorate in analytical chemistry at the University of Massachusetts in 1987 after a distinguished career in that field.

Bill began his professional career working on highly classified satellite observation systems during the Cold War. In 1966 he founded SpectraMetrics, which developed and marketed the SpectraSpan echelle spectrometer, which won acclaim and awards globally and was the basis for several issued patents in optics and spectroscopy. When SpectraMetrics was sold, Bill founded Elliott Laboratories, and served for many years as a technical advisor on water-supply issues for state and municipal entities including the Water Supply Citizens Advisory Committee, the Quabbin Reservoir, the Boston Harbor clean-up, and the writing of state law governing septic systems. Bill was chair of the Shutesbury Board of Health for two decades, he vigorously sought political solutions and legislative support for all of his efforts.

Among Bill's many passions were the performing arts, Lincoln Players, the Concord Players, the Pioneer Valley Ballet, Cambridge Opera, Valley Light Opera, and Adventures in Music, Inc., all benefited from his involvement. He loved gardening, birding, dancing, skiing, snowshoeing, boating, and racquet sports.

He is survived by his sister Karen Wiess; his brother John Braun; his children Mark, Randy, Jocelyn, and Lawrence; his grandchildren Zachary Elliott and Jackson and Elizabeth Vilas; his former wife Peggy Elliott; his former partner Eileen Simonson; and his dear friends Catherine Hilton and Robert Creed.

Memorial services will be announced at a future time.

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