William Messmer

April 11, 1942 – May 22, 2024
In Braintree, William L. Messmer, Jr. ("Bill"), 82, passed away peacefully on May 22, 2024. Bill was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to his parents, Rear Admiral William L. Messmer (USN) and Lucille (Rider) Messmer. Growing up in a military family, he lived in several locations, including Brazil, Nebraska, California, England, and Virginia. Bill graduated from Norfolk Academy, class of 1960, where he excelled in academics and athletics. He was first in his class and served as class president. He was also Captain of the football and baseball teams and a member of the basketball team. Bill then attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1964. He finished second in his class while receiving a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and serving as the deputy commander for the 4,000-man midshipman brigade. He was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in the summer of 1964. He also completed extensive coursework towards a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley College of Engineering.
While serving on active duty, Bill was stationed at various duty stations, including Newport, RI, Charleston, SC, and Mare Island, CA. He completed Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school as part of pre-deployment training. From 1969 to 1970, he served 13 months in Da Nang, Vietnam. He was a member of the River Assault Division and commanded river boat patrols along the Mekong Delta as part of the brown water black beret force. Among his military awards were the Bronze Star with Combat "V," the Navy Commendation Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal with Combat "V," the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon. He left military service as a Lieutenant in 1970 and expressed great pride in his service to our country. He remained close with many of the men he served with in Vietnam. Those same friends also provided much connection, support, and friendship to him throughout his life.
After his time in Vietnam, Bill worked in the financial services industry at Electronic Data Systems, Monchik-Weber Corporation as a Partner, Harborview Systems as President and Chief Executive Officer, and Pershing, a division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (later Bank of New York), as Director. While working in Manhattan, Bill met the love of his life, Jeanne (Ryan), and they were married for nearly 48 years at the time of his death. His close friend, Tom Lynch, made the introduction.
Bill and Jeanne settled in Braintree and resided there for 45 years. Bill was actively involved in the community, volunteered in his children's schools, and coached youth sports, including baseball and basketball. He was a member of St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church, serving on the Vestry and as Treasurer. He also served on the reunion committees at Norfolk Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy.
While working in the financial services industry, Bill attended Northeastern University and earned a Master of Business Administration, graduating in 1984. After retirement from the Bank of New York, Bill began teaching in the math and business departments at Quincy College. He taught several courses, including algebra, geometry, statistics, calculus, and business management. He also tutored numerous students in math for their nursing licensing exam and the teacher certification exam. Bill really enjoyed teaching and was often up late writing lesson plans, drafting letters of recommendation, and researching different teaching methods to best reach his students. During this time, Bill received several awards from Quincy College.
Bill's favorite roles were that of Husband, Dad, and Papa. He was happiest when surrounded by his family. He reveled in attending his children's extracurricular activities. Bill enjoyed vacationing with his family in the Outer Banks and Hilton Head Island. He always looked forward to The Citadel and Providence College weekends. Along with Jeanne, he often babysat his grandchildren while their parents worked and supported them at their games, performances, and recitals. Even when he could no longer attend their sports, he eagerly awaited videos of his grandchildren's plays on the field or court and provided encouragement to them after each game. Moreover, Bill was an avid reader and historian. He closely followed politics, the financial markets, Boston sports, and college basketball and enjoyed conversing with others on these topics. He read The Wall Street Journal cover to cover each day and Barron's each weekend. The Duke Blue Devils were his favorite team, and he never missed a game during the Krzyzewski era.
Bill was predeceased by his parents. He is survived by his loving wife, Jeanne, and his two children, daughter Andrea Doton and her husband Michael, and son William (LtCol, USMC) and his wife Kelly (Hartman). He was predeceased by a son, Henry. He leaves five grandchildren, Alexis, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Ryan, and Parker, along with two grand-dogs, Charleston and Biscuit. He is survived by his brother-in-law, Col. Paul F. Fallon (USAF, Ret) and his wife, Ann, and his sister-in-law, Barbara Fallon. Bill was predeceased by his sister-in-law, Patricia Leonard and her husband Charles and his brother-in-law, Henry Richard Fallon. He is also survived by cousins Julia Williams, Linda Lee Davis and her husband Mallory, and Anne MacKinnon and her husband John, and many nieces and nephews.
The family is grateful to Dr. John Barravecchio, Dr. Scott Lutch, Dr. Michael Berry, Dr. James Mahoney, Thomas Lynch PA-C, and the staff at Alliance Healthcare in Braintree for the compassionate medical care they provided to Bill.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Pan-Mass Challenge. Please reference rider ID TL0038.
Visiting hours will be held on Sunday, June 2nd from 2:00PM-4:00PM at Sullivan Funeral Home in Hanover - 551 Washington St. Rt. 53. A funeral home service will take place on Monday, June 3rd at 11:00AM. Burial will immediately follow at Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.