William Luring

William S. Luring 1933 2011 SAXTONS RIVER, Vt. William Siemer Luring, 77, died at home September 23 of pancreatic cancer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 26, 1933, the only child of Gustave Lee and Priscilla Harris Luring, and graduated with a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He worked for Esso in New Jersey and Stanford University and FMC in California before the experience of leading a group of students to Sweden led him to leave the corporate world and join the staff of The Experiment in International Living (now World Learning) in Putney, where he directed the leadership and summer abroad programs. There, he met his future wife Louise, and they were married October 10, 1970 in Weston. In 1979, he and his family moved to Saxtons River, where he became business manager and treasurer of Vermont Academy, serving until his retirement in 1994. The annual William S. Luring Award honors outstanding service to the Academy by a member of the support staff. A committed member of the Bellows Falls Rotary Club for 27 years, he was a Paul Harris Fellow and instituted the club's local foundation in recognition of Harris's time as a student at Vermont Academy before going on to found Rotary International. He revived and was editor of the club's newsletter. He also served on many boards and committees, including Main Street Arts, Our Place Drop-in Center, the Swift Water Girl Scout Council, and the Saxtons River Fourth of July committee. He took great pleasure in volunteering to work with young students at New England Kurn Hattin Homes. His community service was recognized by Yankee magazine in 2004 with their Barn-Raising award. He was an avid motorcyclist, sharing many hours on his BMW traveling with his biking buddies, especially through the Atlantic provinces of Canada. He was also a passionate foodie whose tastes ranged from Cincinnati four-way chili and White Castle hamburgers to meals at some of the finest restaurants in New York. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, Elena and her children Sophia and Jack of Saxtons River, and Marianna and her husband Garo Taft and their son Aram of Brooklyn, N.Y. There will be no services, but the family will host a celebration of his life at a later date. Contributions in his name may be made to N.E. Kurn Hattin (P.O. Box 127, Westminster, VT 05158) or the Bellows Falls Rotary Club Foundation, Inc. (P.O. Box 81, Bellows Falls, VT 05101).