William McGarry

William P. McGarry, age 82, beloved husband, father, grandfather and physicist died on March 19 surrounded by his adoring family. He was born to the late Peter and Isabella McGarry, in Carnegie, PA. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy in support of WWII, Bill completed Officer Candidate School and served in the Pacific Theatre aboard the USS Admiralty Island aircraft carrier. Taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, Bill graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Physics and continued with graduate work at Columbia University. Upon the national challenge delivered by the launch of the Russian Sputnik, Bill played an instrumental role in developing critical monitoring systems for various national space programs- including Apollo 11 where he directly designed and tested critical systems for the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) which first landed on the Moon. Bill went on to become a highly regarded Telemetry, Optics and Communications expert, working on cutting-edge space exploration, satellite and rocket/weaponry technology. Bill subsequently joined IBM at their main research facility, the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, in Yorktown Heights, NY. While there, Bill earned numerous engineering awards. Bill and

Roberta, his beloved wife, retired on Cape Cod in Chatham, MA. He relocated in 2007 to Syracuse, NY to be closer to family. Bill is survived by his wife of 50 years, Roberta, nee Wimsatt McGarry; his children and their families, Michael (Dorothea McGarry of Sandy Hook, CT; Peter, Cindy, Apryl and Steven McGarry of Raleigh, NC; Andrew,

Jo Ann, Meghan, Erin and Caitlin McGarry of Western Springs, IL; Joanna, Frank,

Isabella and Abigail McGarry-Postle of East Kingston, NH; Molly and Eilert McGarry-Bonk and Ben Robinson of Syracuse, NY. A private family ceremony is planned. Memorial contributions may be made to The Eldridge Public Library, 564 Main Street, Chatham, MA 02633.