William E. "Bill" Wilson III

William "Bill" E. Wilson, III
June 4, 1934 - April 18, 2023
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - William "Bill" E. Wilson, III, 88, passed away on April 18 at Carol Woods Retirement Community, Chapel Hill, from complications associated with Parkinson's Disease. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Katherine "Kathie" M. Wilson; their two children, Gordon C. Wilson and Ellen K. Wilson; his daughter-in-law, Melissa Townsend; his son-in-law, David Leigh; his two grandsons, Jesse Wilson and Alex Blaisdell; and his brother, Swami Anantananda
Preceding him in death were his parents, William E. Wilson, Jr. and Ellen C. Wilson, and his brother, Douglas C. Wilson.
Bill was born in Providence, Rhode Island, but he moved frequently during his growing-up years, ultimately finishing the last two years of high school in Bloomington, Indiana. He graduated from Harvard College in 1956 after majoring in geology. He served two years in the Navy, stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, where he was Testing Officer for the Recruit Training Command. After he married Kathie, his Indiana high school sweetheart, he earned his PhD in hydrogeology at the University of Illinois.
He spent most of his career working for the U.S. Geological Survey, first conducting water-resources investigations in Connecticut and Florida, and later, while living in Colorado, directing the USGS's hydrogeologic studies to determine the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada to safely store high-level nuclear waste underground. Upon his retirement from the USGS in 1990, he and Kathie moved to Switzerland, where he consulted with the Swiss in their search for a suitable site to store nuclear waste underground.
In 1993 Bill and Kathie returned to Colorado, where they bought an 1870 Victorian home in the historic mountain town of Georgetown. There, he was active in community affairs, including historic preservation. In 2011 they moved to Chapel Hill, NC, to be in a milder climate and to be near their daughter and outstanding cultural and medical facilities.
During his active years, Bill enjoyed traveling, hiking, and camping with friends and family. He was a skilled writer and editor. During his career he wrote numerous technical reports, and in retirement he enjoyed co-editing an international Journal and researching and writing about local history. In 2018 he self-published, "On the Move, an Anecdotal History of My Boyhood." He was a long-time practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, which was a meaningful part of his life. He had a long-standing interest in observing weather phenomena. In Georgetown he was a volunteer observer for the National Weather Service, and in Chapel Hill he participated in a national network of volunteer precipitation observers. Bill was an avid sports fan, especially baseball. As a boy and into adulthood, he was a die-hard Yankees fan who later switched to following the Colorado Rockies. Although not a musician himself, Bill was a lover of classical music, especially from the Baroque era. Bill is remembered by those who knew him for his kindness and his wit.
A Celebration of Life will be held on June 3 at 2:00 pm at Carol Woods. Bill's family appreciates how the staff at Charles House Elder Care Center enlivened his days and how the staff at Carol Woods Health Center gave him such loving care. Memorial Donations can be made to the Parkinson's Foundation (parkinson.org) or the Charles House Association (charleshouse.org).