William Benjamin Van Buren III

1922 - 2016

VAN BUREN III,
William Benjamin
March 25, 1922 - Feb. 26, 2016

William Benjamin Van Buren III, of Austin, Texas, passed away peacefully on February 26, 2016, at the age of 93.

William ("Bill") was born on March 25, 1922, in Brooklyn, NY, to William Benjamin Van Buren II and Dorothy Way Van Buren. He and his younger brother Robert ("Bob") grew up in Plainfield, NJ. Bill was an excellent student, an Eagle Scout, and also a high school baseball player.

Bill attended Washington & Lee ("W&L") University in Lexington, VA for his undergraduate education, graduating in 1944 with a B.A. in Economics, and elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He loved W&L, played great college baseball there, and was a member of the W&L glee club.

Bill enlisted with the U.S. Naval Service in June 1942. He completed Naval Service schools at University of Richmond; was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Northwestern University, where he became an officer; and Communications School at Harvard University. Bill served in the U.S. Navy until May 1946, serving as a Communications Officer and 1st Lieutenant aboard the USS Simpson, a destroyer, in the Atlantic Ocean. Bill loved his years with the Navy and had the greatest regard for the Navy and his fellow Navy men.

After the war, Bill attended Yale University Law School and graduated with an LLB in 1949. He began his legal profession in New York and was admitted to the NY State Bar in 1950.

Bill married Joan Cottrell Whitford of Plainfield, NJ on September 11, 1947. They had a very happy marriage and family life, with four children, Susan, Patricia, William and Richard, residing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Bill's major career tenure was with Merck & Co., Inc. His career with Merck spanned 35 years, where he held various corporate legal and senior management positions, from Director of Corporate Development to Senior Vice President. Bill was greatly respected and admired for his exceptional intelligence, discernment, and integrity. He had the utmost respect for Merck and and all of its great accomplishments, corporate culture and management.

At the end of 1986, Bill retired from Merck, and he and Joan moved to South Carolina. In 1997, after nearly 50 years of marriage, Joan passed away. Subsequently Bill moved to Austin, TX to be near two of his children.

In 1999, Bill remarried, to Norma Adams Sutton from Atlanta, GA. Bill and Norma enjoyed many pleasant years in the Barton Creek area of Austin, where they met many new friends, did some traveling, and eventually moved into the Querencia-Barton Creek community.

All his life, Bill was very athletic and played many sports, particularly high school and college baseball. Bill also loved music and had very broad and eclectic tastes in music. Finally, all who knew him will remember his quick wit and enduring sense of humor.

Bill is survived by his second wife, Norma Adams Van Buren of Duluth, GA; his daughter Patricia Van Buren and her husband John M. Almond of The Hills, TX; son William S. Van Buren, his wife Donna N. Van Buren and their daughter Kathryn Elizabeth Van Buren, of Seattle, WA; son Richard W. Van Buren and wife Leslie M. Van Buren of Austin, TX and their three sons, Logan M. Van Buren, Nicholas P. Van Buren, and Derek J. Van Buren. Bill is also survived by his niece Marcia Van Buren-Brown and her husband Thomas W. Brown of New York City; niece Cynthia Way Rapalje Van Buren of Palm Beach, FL; and nephew Robert Scott Van Buren and his partner Robyn Saros of North Beach, NJ.

Bill's family wishes to thank the wonderful staff and administrators of The Plaza at Querencia-Barton Creek for their kind care and helpfulness throughout Bill's residence there. Additionally and especially, the family wishes to thank Bill's personal caregivers from the Halcyon Home agency: in particular, Cherlyn Fulton, Gherry ("Jay") Polycarpe, and Albert Kusi, for their outstanding nursing care and loyalty during Bill's final years.

A memorial service for Mr. Van Buren will be held at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 1:00 PM. The service will be followed by visitation with the family. Interment will be at Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, NJ.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org or the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org. Obituary and memorial guestbook available online at www.wcfish.com.