William P. Durkee IV

Today, a cascading of thoughts reminded me of Bill Durkee, who, when he was a student at Yale, carried out a project with high school seniors in my humanities class in West Hartford,CT. I am disappointed to learn that he has passed. Without laying down all the details,Bill helped to turn young people who were bright book learners into daring visual thinkers. He moved them from two dimensional to three dimensional work. When they had completed a trapezoidal arch that stood in front of the...

Maria and family
Just heard of your loss. Please know that we are with you in prayer. It has been many years since we last saw each other at your home. Your children were very young. May Our Lord sustain you daily and fill your hearts with warm memories of William.

Your cousin
Patricia Caruso Kern & Family

I was shocked and saddened to hear of Bill's death. Although we have not stayed in frequent touch, Bill was one of my best friends in Yale Architecture School, a natural leader, and a person of talent and broad interests. He was a gifted artist, and one of his large colorful oil paintings hangs on my wall to this day. Most of all, he was a mentor and huge help to me in getting my sea legs in graduate school.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to Shadyside Academy (the first-ever class...

Maria, Will and Musetta,
Bill has been one of my anchors in life. Yes he was my best teacher, but also no matter how long it had been since we last talked or how far away I lived when ever I contacted him we picked up like we never left off. I met my wife Cyndy at your house, and I would play with Beano at dinner at Joy's house. The welcome you, Bill, and Joy gave me kept my head on strait. I will always remember Bill, his purple ties and the purple pens he used to draw and teach with. ...

My dear brother in law...fellow sports junkie...source of my cherished Penguins hockey jersey...and a man who certainly rose up to the occasion in recent months to "take charge" (him do that? what a surprise!)at times in caring for his mother Dorcas. Such a generous soul, and someone I could razz about so many things and know I'd get razzed in return. A real brother of a brother-in-law.

Although I never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, Dorcas told me about Bean and his "remaking" of himself in Pittsburgh during a time when I was in the midst of a similar turn. To read about him and the tributes to his memory show just what a remarkable inspiration he was.

We are so sorry that Bill has passed. We live with his visionary work everyday in our "Melissa Addition" at Mount Air Estate. He was adored by many and will be greatly missed.

Bill was certainly a memorable person. We were acquainted with him through his son Will's soccer.