William J. Given

1921 - 2016

William J. Given

Age 94, passed away on March 30, 2016. Bill was born on August 27, 1921 in Camden, NJ. He was the only child of Swedish immigrants William and Elsa (Vecander) Given. As a teenager his first job was working for RCA in the manufacturing plants, which would later turn out to be a long and distinguished career. In 1941, Bill was a Marine pilot in WWII protecting our coast lines during the war. Three years ago he was asked to join other veterans for the Indy Honor Flight to Washington D.C. He had degrees in Business and Design which included, School of Industrial Arts, Philadelphia College of Art, University of Pennsylvania, Westminster College, University of North Carolina and Indiana University of Graduate School of Business. He said: my education came from working with people. He was an artist, designer and businessman. His business career was with RCA in Indianapolis, where in March of 1954 Bill was a member of the RCA team that designed the first color TV set. He was Operations Manager of Industrial Design which allowed him to work internationally in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada and Mexico. His professional associations just to name a few were: Society of Plastics Engineers - Past Chairman and Board of Directors, Indiana Art Directors - Past President, Society of Manufacturing Engineers - Senior Member. Bill was an avid golfer, enjoyed telling a good joke, tinkering in his garage and having a good V.O. Manhattan every evening. His fantasy career was to be a musical conductor for a large symphony orchestra. People would comment that he could be Charles Bronson's double. He was a man's man and a gentleman, he had style and grace.

Bill is survived by his: wife Bernice; sons, Ronald Given, Brent (Brenda) Smock; daughters, Cindy (Chris) Papathanasiou, Lauri (Kevin) Burns; daughter-in-law, RaeAnn Given; and 8 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and son, Mark Given.

Donations in honor of Bill can be made to: Indy Honor Flight (indyhonorflight.org) a part of National Honor Flight Network. Wounded Warriors Foundation. Arrangements entrusted to Legacy Cremation & Funeral Services - Lawrence.