William Freiday York

1964 - 2016

William Freiday York, 52

DURHAM - William Freiday York, 52, of Osprey, Fla., and Durham, passed away on early Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. Bill was born on Sept. 26, 1964, in Portland.

He was predeceased by his father, Wayne F. York, in 2005 and his birth father, William F. Freiday, in 1966.

He attended school in Yarmouth, graduated from Yarmouth High School in 1983, and received his B.S. from Bates College in 1987 with a major in economics. During his spare time while in high school, he worked at the Homeward Inn and while attending college he worked part-time at L.L.Bean. He also studied at the Tuck School of Business in 1989.

Bill was an avid fly fisherman and made several trips with friends over the years to Labrador, Canada. He was most passionate about boating near his childhood home on Cousins Island, and skiing in Maine's western mountains.

For nearly 30 years, Bill was a marketing executive in multiple business including operational planning, marketing, e-commerce, social media, merchandising and call center operations throughout the United States and Internationally. At L.L.Bean he was a senior manager for international marketing from 1992-1998, and was on the board of directors of Outward Bound.

In 1998 he became marketing director for the Dell Corporation. He was employed by Interland, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, as vice president of marketing, and later at Camping World, Inc. in Bowling Green, Kentucky, as senior vice president of marketing. Beginning in 2003 he worked as a marketing consultant with Customer Marketing Associates, Inc. of Osprey, Florida. During those years he did marketing consulting throughout the industry including Crutchfield Corporation, Peruvian Connections, National Wholesale, and Vermont Teddy Bear as acting president.

Bill is survived by his loving mother, Dorothy M. York, of Durham. He leaves behind his partner and friend of many years, Walter L. Erdman; and his dear friends from high school days, John Sumner, James Goodbody and Dan Edwards; as well as several special cousins and friends.

A celebration of life is to be held at the Cousins Island Chapel on May 6, 2017, at 10 a.m., and will be followed by interment at Cousins Island Cemetery, which will be followed by a gathering at the Island Community Center.

Please visit www.advantageportland.com to sign Bill's guestbook and leave comments and condolences for the family.

In celebration of Bill's life, contributions may be sent to the Humane Society of your choice in honor of his love for cats, especially his little girl, Abby.